Welcome All

Welcome Minister and congratulations on your new portfolio. It is especially important to us that you are here as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary.  We believe that good communications with government and public servants is important and useful and we look forward to having more opportunities to speak with you soon.

Can you believe it! 30 Years!

The founding members saw the need to develop a collective voice for refugee rights and they also had the vision to begin to build the Canadian Council for Refugees which now has over 180 member organizations in Canada as well as linkages with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in every region of the globe.

Refugee protection and human rights are at the core of our mandate as they have been since the beginning thirty years ago. Sometimes change is slow and incremental and we have been working on some of our campaigns for a long time.

We continue to call for the implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division which was passed into law by Parliament in 2002 but which successive governments have delayed implementing. By my calculations, 6 years, six ministers and three governments later we hope that this government will finally implement this cornerstone of the Canadian refugee protection regime.

Many families are fragmented by war and exile and remain separated even after some members reach safehaven in Canada. Bringing families together is key to their successful integration and the costs of not doing so are levied on us all. No where is this more certain than when children are left behind, often in vulnerable situations open to abuse and exploitation. Among several measures on family reunification, we continue to call for a mechanism to replace the exclusion of family members under Regulation 117(9)(d) so that children are not sentenced to a life separation for the mistakes of their parents. 

As CCR gets older we have been actively encouraging youth participation in every level of the organization. Last year the youth told us that the of repayment travel loans is a huge burden on their families at a time when they are just beginning their lives in Canada. They told us many are forced to quit school and go to work to help their families. This is costing far more than the money they owe for their airfare. Almost all resettlement countries pay for the travel of the refugees they resettle. We think Canada should too. We are urging the government to cancel the loans program so that refugee families can get on with the challenges of integration and achieving their potential in Canadian society.

Canada’s Resettlement program is one of the top three in the world and we have much to be proud of. Our Private Sponsorship Program brings fully one third of all resettled refugees to Canada annually and is a model for other resettlement countries. But the program has shrunk in numbers instead of growing and we believe that Canada can and should do more. The UNHCR has identified the need to resettle 561,000 persons. We know that there is a willingness and the capacity among Canadians to help meet the need to resettle refugees.

We continue to call on the government to increase the overall numbers of resettled refugees, to aim for the high end of the Private Sponsorship targets and not to settle for the bottom of the range. The urgent situation for Iraqi refugees of all ethnic and faith affiliations who urgently need protection is one example where numbers can and should be increased.

We heard on Monday that processing times for privately sponsored refugees in Nairobi are now 48 months, up from 38, despite being assured two years ago that if sponsors did our part the Department would work hard to reduce processing times.  We are deeply disappointed and we look to you, Minister to improve a protection program that now takes 48 months to protect.

I would like to respond to your comments, Minister, regarding the need to process refugee asylum claims efficiently and your suggestion of a two tier approach that would respond differently to asylum seekers from countries such as Mexico. We certainly share your concerns about the need to resolve claims in a timely manner, but never at the expense of fairness. I understand that about 10 - 12% of refugee claims from Mexico are accepted. That is one in every ten persons who is found to be a genuine refugee in need of Canada’s protection. We don’t want to lose that one person when it is a matter of life and death. No amount of program efficiency is acceptable when we do lose that one person. On the other hand, we do want to see a program that is fair and efficient, and one way we believe this will improve is with the implementation of the Refugee Appeals Division that is intended to reduce the consequences for error in decision making for genuine refugees. We also look forward to further dialogue on this issue with you in the future.

It has become increasingly apparent that what affects one country or region will have impact on us here and on the refugees abroad. Global challenges such as climate change, mass migrations, the trading of human rights in the name of increased security and now our global economic crisis all threaten to shrinkthe humanitarian space in Canada and elsewhere. In the same way that governments plan and strategize, NGOs must collaborate to ensure that their perspectives are heard at the highest levels. Thirty years ago we didn’t have any real means of communicating with NGOs in other countries. Now, CCR is a leader in building connections and furthering dialogue between NGOs seeking protection and human rights for refugees. 

I want to say something about our mandate to immigrants. You know – human experience doesn’t fit neatly into boxes, columns and programs. Many refugees arrive with an immigrant label, families of refugees immigrate, tens of thousands come every year as immigrants. Some needs for services are common, others are unique. Challenges such as accreditation, racism, family concerns, gender issues and so on are shared across the newcomer experience. The government segments categories of claimants, resettled refugees, immigrants, migrant workers and refuses even to acknowledge the needs of persons without status; the CCR concluded a long time ago that our mandate to achieve change must include all newcomers.

In closing:
I cannot begin to express how proud I am to have been associated with this organization and how privileged I feel to be your 13th president – lucky 13!  I want to close by reading part of a letter we received in the office last week from Peter Zwart who was an early member and on the Executive for many years.

Thirty years! It has been quite a ride.

Receive our congratulations as you celebrate the 30th anniversary having become and are a national voice and commitment to the rights, protection and settlement of refugees in Canada and around the world. Looking at the future with you, we wish you continued insight, wisdom and understanding as you build that home of justice for refugees and immigrants.

Greetings and our love to you all. Celebrate, you deserve it.

Peter and Anna Zwart.