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Join the CCR Youth Network in demanding that:
- Canada STOP detaining children in immigration detention;
- Canada adopt a national policy to take care of separated refugee children;
- Canada ensure children can quickly reunite with their parents;
- Canada protect trafficked children;
- Canada change the Citizenship Act so that no child of a Canadian citizen is stateless;
- Canada give full consideration to the best interests of children affected in any immigration decision, including the decision to deport.
Did you know that...
In Canada, children are routintely held in immigration detention centres, even though the law says detention should be a last resort.
In 2003, the UN recommended that Canada adopt a national policy to care for children separated from both their parents who are seeking refugee status in Canada. Refugee children are very vulnerable – when they don’t have a parent to look after them, the government must step in. In 2011, there is still no national policy.
Children often wait years in dangerous situations before they are allowed to travel to Canada to be reunited with their families. The longest wait times are for children in Africa.
Trafficking happens in Canada. Canadian law does not protect trafficked persons, including children. Detained and deported, they are sometimes treated more as criminals than as victims of a crime.
In 2009, Canada changed its laws to limit Canadian citizenship to the first generation born outside Canada to Canadian parents. This means that some children of Canadian citizens are born stateless. A person is "stateless" if no country considers them a citizen.
Children are sometimes deported from Canada without attention being paid to the impact on their lives.
This injustice has to stop. Canada must respect the rights of ALL children.
Frequently asked questions about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:
1) What’s the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?
The UN (United Nations) Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international human rights treaty that defines the rights of children – any person under the age of 18, unless a country’s law defines children differently. Canada has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Convention has been signed by more countries than any other international human rights treaty.
2) How does it work?
3) How is this Convention relevant to newcomer youth?