Settlement in Canada of refugees from Kosovo

That the CCR adopt the above-mentioned position paper and communicate it to Citizenship & Immigration Canada with the request that it be considered and its implications discussed with members of the CCR.

Subject: Settlement in Canada of Refugees from Kosovo

Goal: To resettle in destinations across Canada those refugees from Kosovo now located in government "sustainment sites".

Principles: For refugees from Kosovo, as for all refugees needing resettlement in Canada, the CCR believes in a focus upon what is best for each, including:

1. Appropriate destining
2. Orientation to Canada
3. Orientation to community
4. Opportunities for refugees to make choices
5. Application of best settlement practices
6. Varied and creative approaches to successful settlement
7. Equity of services
8. Interdependence of the service-providing infrastructure

   While recognizing that the following principles can have general application to the resettlement of all refugees, with particular relevance to the refugees from Kosovo now arriving under "Operation Parasol", the CCR believes in:

9. The benefit of community involvement, and the opportunity to engender goodwill for these and other refugees
10. The need for appropriate training and support of volunteers
11. Access to the service-providing community's long experience
12. The mutually supportive roles of Sponsorship Agreement Holders and Service Providing Organizations
13. The commitment of both sponsoring and service providing organizations to "welcome the stranger", transcending and extending any contractual arrangements with government to provide sponsorship or services
14. The responsibility of the Federal government to provide adequate resources so that the commitment and obligation of the responding community can be fulfilled to the best standards developed over the past twenty years
15. The need for communication, partnership, consultation, and co-ordinated response among all levels of government, sponsoring organizations and service providing organizations in a spirit of goodwill and common objectives;