Canadian Council for Refugees E-Chronicle Vol. 4 #4, 6 July 2009 |
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Canadian Council for Refugees E-Chronicle Vol. 4 #4, 6 July 2009 Printer-friendly version Send to friend*** CONTENTS:
On June 20th, the Canadian Council for Refugees invited Canadians to mark World Refugee Day, celebrated this year on the theme ‘Real People, Real Needs’. Refugees who make a claim in Canada have a real need for protection. Canada’s refugee determination system must first and foremost ensure that no refugee is sent back to persecution. Although the core of Canada’s system is excellent and has become a model for protection internationally, it has a major flaw because an appeal for refugees has not been implemented and errors therefore go uncorrected. World Refugee Day is also a time to recognize the challenges that continue to face refugees who have been resettled to Canada, including repayment of loans, with interest, for travel and medical expenses. The Canadian Council for Refugees is urging the government to assume the costs of transportation and medical expenses, thus eliminating the burden on refugees of these loans. For more information on the refugee appeal, see http://www.ccrweb.ca/RADpage.htm or item d) below. For more information on realities of refugee claimants, see Lives in the Balance, http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/refugeeclaimsFAQ.pdf For the full text of the CCR’s press release on World Refugee Day, see: http://ccrweb.ca/en/bulletin/09/06/19 For more information on the repayment of refugee transportation loans see the next item.
The resolution is to be submitted to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association. Let’s hope this association will broaden the call (and take the opportunity to include mention of privately sponsored refugees, who also bear the burden of transportation loans). One of the motivations behind the Surrey City Council’s decision was a recently published report, At Home in Surrey? The Housing Experience of Refugees in Surrey, B.C. This report documents the impacts of transportation loan repayment on refugee families and their chances for success. Similar research is available for other cities and we have now listed some references on the CCR’s transportation loans webpage at: http://www.ccrweb.ca/transportationloans.htm#research We encourage organizations across Canada to approach municipal councils and urge them to follow the example of Surrey’s City Council. For a copy of the motion passed by Surrey City Council, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/Surreyresolution.pdf For recent media coverage on transportation loans for refugees, see: Gov't program leaves refugees out of work, deeply in debt, Edmonton Journal, 6 July 2009: http://tinyurl.com/mzqu4q Fees for refugees unfair, group says, Toronto Star, 3 July 2009: www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/660211 For more ideas on acting to end the burden of transportation loans for refugees, see: www.ccrweb.ca/transportationloans.htm. See also information below (under New from the CCR) about transportation loan campaign postcards.
In the report, the government finds the US still safe for refugees: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/safe-third.asp
The new law is intended to resolve some of the situations of "lost Canadians", but these measures create a new category of "stateless Canadians" by denying Canadians the right to pass on their citizenship if they are citizens born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen parent. The CCR is deeply concerned that this will lead to children of Canadian citizens being born stateless. The Committee notes the risk of statelessness, but unfortunately does not recommend changes to prevent children of Canadian citizens being born stateless. The Committee’s report can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ndwty4 Check out the profiles of affected families as highlighted in the article, Changes to Citizenship Act cut many loose: Children of Canadians living abroad could be stateless as a result of changes, http://tinyurl.com/n6dvps, Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, 29 June 2009. (note: the information about recourses for a child denied Canadian citizenship is not completely accurate: not so surprising, as the law is extremely complicated). For the CCR’s analysis on the impacts of these changes to the Citizenship Act, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/citizenship09.htm For more information about statelessness, see: CCR, Statelessness and Canada: An introduction, March 2009, http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/statelessnessprimerEN.pdf
Refugees need the appeal in order to protect them from being sent back to face persecution following an error in the determination of their claim. Canada needs the refugee appeal in order to comply with our international human rights obligations not to refoule refugees. The CCR has written to the Liberal members of the Standing Committee expressing dismay at this reversal of the Party’s support for the refugee appeal: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/RADlettersjune09.htm For more commentary on the obstacles in passing the bill, read the article, NDP, Bloc accuse Liberals of stalling refugee bill, Xtra, 22 June 2009, http://tinyurl.com/m2js3k For more information, about the Refugee Appeal Division, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/eng/campaigns/RADaction.htm
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has reportedly declined a request from the US to accept some of the Uighur detainees. See for example, CBC, Canada refuses U.S. request to accept Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo, 5 June, http://tinyurl.com/r98rlx The Prime Minister was giving a response to a political request. This does not affect the refugee sponsorship applications, which are being processed in the normal fashion in accordance with the law. For the CCR release announcing the five sponsorships, see Canadian groups ready to welcome refugees resettled from Guantanamo, 10 February 2009, http://ccrweb.ca/en/bulletin/09/02/10 Do you want to be part of efforts to promote rights for refugees? Want to participate in in-depth discussions on pressing issues affecting refugees and immigrants in Canada? Looking to share information and strategies with others from across Canada? Come to the CCR Summer Working Group meetings in Montreal! Moving forward on issues, Getting involved: The Working Group meetings are a chance to:
Networking, Learning: The Working Group meetings provide an excellent opportunity to:
When: 11-12 September 2008, 9:30am - 5 pm For more information and for a copy of the Working Group promotional pamphlet, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/eng/about/meetings.htm
Good news! The report from the CCR Spring Consultation Protecting refugees and immigrants in hard times in Quebec City, 28 - 30 May 2009 is now available online at: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/consmay09report.pdf
Last month, the Canadian Council for Refugees issued some answers to current questions and concerns about the system, as well as information about a few of the individuals in the system, in its publication, Lives in the Balance: Understanding current challenges to the refugee claim process. This publication is designed to increase public awareness about – and support for – refugee claimants, and the refugee claim process. Please use widely! Now available: a web version of Lives in the Balance, at http://www.ccrweb.ca/livesinthebalance.htm. Looking for Lives in the Balance in print? Pre-order copies of the 8-page booklet today. Complete and submit the publications order form at: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/publicationsorderform.pdf To preview the revised version, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/refugeeclaimsFAQ.pdf
Looking for refugee and immigrant rights-related videos from the Canadian Council for Refugees in one handy spot? Check out the CCR’s new video channel at: http://www.youtube.com/ccrwebvideos You’ll find short videos on:
… More to come
Available soon: Postcards depicting the effects of transportation loans on refugees in Canada. Encourage participants at your next event to send them to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and their own Member of Parliament. Pre-order copies from the CCR office using the order form at: http://www.ccrweb.ca/documents/publicationsorderform.pdf For other ideas to support the transportation loans campaign to end the burden of transportation loans, see: http://www.ccrweb.ca/transportationloans.htm And join the transportation loans Facebook group at: http://tinyurl.com/msq8dt |
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On 29 June 2009, Surrey City Council in British Columbia adopted a motion calling on the federal government to cancel all outstanding transportation loans and to cease seeking repayment for refugees’ transportation and medical costs. 
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has posted a Report on the Review of the designation of the United States as a Safe Third Country on its website, dated June 2009. By law, the government is required to ensure “continuing review” of a country designated as safe. However, this is the first time a review has been conducted since implementation of the Safe Third Country Agreement in 2004.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recently undertook a short study of the impacts of changes to the Citizenship Act, which took effect in April 2009.
The Liberals and Conservatives continue to work together to block Bill C-291 in the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. Despite efforts to pass this bill to force implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division, it remains at the committee stage until Parliament resumes in the fall.
Five men detained in Guantanamo continue to hope that refugee sponsorship by groups in Canada will provide them an avenue to freedom and security (including Djamel Ameziane, shown left). Their applications are being processed: the next step is for a Canadian visa officer to interview them. This requires that the US authorities grant access to the detainees in Guantanamo, something they have so far been slow to do.
Are you looking for details from a workshop at the CCR Spring Consultation in Quebec City? 
Canada’s refugee determination system has been the subject of recent public commentary, much of it focusing on “abuse” and alleged problems in the system. The realities of refugees in the system have received less attention.