Protection of Burmese refugees

Resolution number
23
Whereas
  1. Aung San Su Kyi remains under house arrest following her victory in the democratic elections of 1989
  2. The SLORC continues to disregard human rights and the outcome of the 1989 democratic elections;
  3. Since 1988 large numbers of Burmese nationals have been both internally and externally displaced;
  4. The Royal Thai government is failing to provide protection to Burmese nationals and their conditions continue to deteriorate;
  5. International attention and pressure have been conspicuously absent;
  6. There is both an overseas need and a sponsorship interest in increasing the current immigration levels;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Petition the Government of Canada to request the Government of Thailand:
    1. to honour their responsibilities to provide safe asylum to Burmese nationals; and
    2. to issue exit visas to Burmese nationals upon completion of Canadian immigration processing;
  2. Petition the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to increase the number of government sponsorships to at least double the current seventy-five positions and in addition appropriate one-third of the contingency allocation in recognition of the urgency of the situation;
  3. Urge the Government of Canada to use all means at its disposal to pressure the Burmese (Myanmar) SLORC to restore human rights and to honour its own democratic process and the outcome of the election of 1989;
  4. Request the Government of Canada to provide human resource development opportunities to Burmese refugees in neighbouring countries as they await restoration of human rights and the democratic process in Burma.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement