Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

28 February, 2005 - Sanja Pecelj returned to Canada early this morning as a permanent resident, putting an end to a period that included 441 days as a refugee in sanctuary in the basement of an Anglican church in Halifax and nearly six months as a temporary resident in Mexico City, where she nervously waited for Citizenship and Immigration Canada to decide on her fate.

More than 40 supporters of Ms Pecelj, including the Rt Revd Sue Moxley, suffragan bishop of Nova Scotia, member of Parliament Alexa McDonough (NDP) and parishioners from St Mark's church (where Bishop Moxley served as parish priest and which served as Ms. Pecelj's sanctuary) as well as a dozen members of the media welcomed her arrival at Halifax International Airport at 2am.

"I couldn't believe it," said Ms Pecelj in a telephone interview. "I was surprised to see so many of them." "We're absolutely happy," said Bishop Moxley. "Everyone kept saying, 'she's actually here.' She (Ms Pecelj) could hardly believe it herself."

"This particular battle has been won but the war against immigration isn't over," said Bishop Moxley, recalling roller-coaster months that saw federal officials, including Prime Minister Paul Martin, promising to review Ms Pecelj's application as a refugee, and reneging on that promise.

More here: http://anglicanjournal.com//extra/news.html?newsItem=2005-02-28_mns.news

Article from the Anglican Journal (Canada) by Marites N Sison