This Family Day, let’s reunite refugee families
While many will celebrate with their loved ones on February 17, huge delays in refugee family reunification will continue to prevent thousands of people across Canada from doing the same.
This Family Day, the CCR calls for urgent action to reunite refugee families.
Whether we were born here or came to Canada seeking refuge, we all want the same for our families: to have them safe and close by. This is true for particular reasons for refugees, who have experienced traumatic events and been forced to flee their homes. Even with refugee status in Canada, they can’t start rebuilding their lives when their spouse and children are far away, often themselves in precarious situations, perhaps in a war zone.
It is unconscionable that as a country we are making refugees wait more than 4 and a half years to be reunited with their immediate family, and this is after they have been accepted as refugees.
Children in particular must not be made to wait – legally and morally they have a right to be with their parents. Even a year of separation is devastating for a child. Children of refugees are often facing risk of violence and significant deprivation – unable to go to school or lacking access to health care or even having enough to eat – as well as the trauma of being apart from one or both parents.
In principle, our government supports refugee family reunification: people whose refugee claim is accepted in Canada can apply for permanent residence and include immediate family members who are overseas in their application. However, the Canadian government has chosen, through the immigration levels, to accept each year only a fraction of the applications received from refugees. As a result, a huge backlog has developed of over 100,000 people, including 40,000 children and spouses overseas.
The processing times will only get longer, because last November the government slashed even further the number of refugees and their family members who can be granted permanent residence each year.
Unless action is taken by the Canadian government, accepted refugees applying today for permanent residence will not see their spouse and children until 2030 or beyond!
Canadians overwhelmingly support welcoming refugees and want better for our friends and neighbours waiting to be reunited with their families. Our government’s actions must reflect this support.
As an immediate solution, the CCR repeats its call to Minister Miller to issue Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs) to family members of refugees, so that no family in Canada is separated next time we celebrate Family Day.
Read our letter to Minister Miller
How you can help
Use the form below to send a letter to your MP and to Minister Miller to demand action today!