CCR
CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR REFUGEES


RESOLUTIONS
NOVEMBER 2006
 

IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
 
1.      Youth Inclusion
 
WHEREAS:  The CCR recognizes the value of the participation and perspective of youth;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR:
 
1.      Support the development of the CCR Youth Network and increasing meaningful youth engagement and leadership within the CCR.
 
2.      Add youth to the list of factors to be taken into account by the members of the CCR in the election of Executive Committee members.
 
 
OVERSEAS PROTECTION AND SPONSORSHIP
 
2.      Interpreters at visa offices
 
WHEREAS:  Recent information from various sources and complaints from refugees interviewed by the Damascus and other visa posts suggest that some refusals may be due to interpretation;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR urge CIC to review increasingly serious concerns around interpretation at interviews, including allegations of bias, and ask that standards be adopted to ensure quality of interpretation.
 
 
3.      Liberian Refugees in West Africa
 
WHEREAS:    1.      The situation in Liberia is in transition and is improving;
                        2.      The country is not able to absorb big numbers of returnees;
                        3.      Human rights are not generally respected;
                        4.      Repatriation is not a durable solution for all Liberian refugees in the region and some may meet the Country of Asylum Class criteria;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR:
1.      Urge CIC to consider resettlement of Liberians to Canada for whom repatriation is not the preferred option and as part of a broader effort to achieve durable solutions for all Liberian refugees in West Africa;
 
2.      Ask CIC to consult with interested NGOs in Canada regarding resettlement to Canada of Liberian refugees in West Africa;
 
3.      Encourage CIC to review sponsorship cases rejected in 2006 if the refugees live in camp-based situations and were rejected on the basis that repatriation is available to them;
 
4.      Request UNHCR to stop reducing financial support to the refugees in Buduburam Camp and restore the assistance to the past year level;
 
5.      Request CIDA to become actively involved in the post-war reconstruction in Liberia.
 
 
4.      War in the Horn of Africa
 
WHEREAS:      

1.      The possibility of a war is looming in the Horn of Africa due to political intervention and ambition by the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea in the civil war in Somalia;
 
2.      Many innocent people, mainly women and children, are already displaced and on the move to other neighbouring countries, such as Kenya, which already houses many refugees;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR ask the Canadian government to collaborate with the African Union to achieve a more humane approach to diplomacy in the Horn of Africa and to use unilateral, bilateral, regional and multilateral means to apply pressure on:
 
1.      The Ethiopian government to withdraw its soldiers from Somalia and to refrain from further escalating the tension by dragging people into war;
 
2.      The Eritrean government to stop trying to wage their conflict with Ethiopia in Somalia.

 
INLAND PROTECTION
 
5.      Detention on identity grounds
 
WHEREAS:
1.  According to IRPA, there is no independent review of:
a)      the decision of an officer to detain a foreign national because their identity has not been established;
b)      the Minister’s opinion that identity has not been established;
c)      once identity has been tendered, the decision that it is insufficient;
 
2.   According to international human rights law, detention without independent review constitutes arbitrary detention;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR demand that IRPA be amended to require that the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board conduct an independent review of 1 a), b) and c).
 

6.      Migrant agricultural workers and other temporary work permit holders
 
WHEREAS:     

1.      Migrant agricultural workers and other temporary work permit holders are living in a situation of segregation which prevents them from having effective recourse to justice;
 
2.      Migrant workers who have suffered an injustice are often deported before they can seek a legal recourse;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR demand that the status of worker be maintained during the period necessary to seize a tribunal of the matter and to await its resolution.
 
 
7.      Torture legislation
 
WHEREAS:       1.      The Arar Commission has identified Canadian complicity in Maher Arar’s rendition to torture in Syria;
 
                        2.      The Canadian government continues to argue that there may be circumstances under which individuals could be returned to a country where there may be grounds to believe they may be at risk of torture;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:
 
1.      The CCR call on the government to enact legislation that unequivocally and absolutely prohibits the use of torture under any circumstances by any person, but in particular by any government official or persons acting in a government-related capacity;
 
2.      This legislation prohibit the use of information garnered as a result of torture;
 
3.      This legislation prohibit actions, including the sharing of information, that might reasonably be expected to place any person at risk of torture.
 
 
8.      Automatic issuance of “protected status” documents
 
WHEREAS:      

1.      It is important for protected persons to settle meaningfully in Canada through education, employment, etc.;
 
2.      Presently, protected persons need to submit a special “protected status” document to be registered in certain programs;
 
3.      It takes 8 weeks for CIC to issue these documents;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR call on CIC to issue “protected status” documents at the time the person is accepted by the IRB.

 
9.      Arming of border guards
 
WHEREAS:      

1.      A decision has been made by the government of Canada to arm the officers of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA);
 
 2.      The CCR has raised its concerns to the Prime Minister in this regard;
 
 3.      Arming CBSA is absolutely unnecessary with negative impacts on refugees who have gone through persecution, mental trauma and torture;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR oppose the arming of CBSA and advocate to overturn the decision.
                       
 
10.  Exclusion of claimants at the POE
 
WHEREAS:      

1.      There have been many documented cases where CBSA officers at the Port Of Entry (POE) have issued removal orders against people seeking refugee protection in Canada before they were able to state their intent to claim refugee status;
 
2.      The consequence of this is to deprive a claimant of access to the Immigration and Refugee Board;
 
3.      There is no stay of removal pending an application for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) once a removal order has been issued;
 
4.      As a result there are documented cases of people being removed without any risk assessment;
 
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCR call on the government to issue regulations or guidelines that would require POE officers to ask persons subject to removal if they fear persecution in their country of origin or of habitual residence before issuing a removal order.