Resolution number
14
Whereas
- From mid-August to early September, Canada asked Somali asylum-seekers in Kenya having close links to Canada (including brothers and sisters), to identify themselves for the Canadian resettlement program;
- This raised high expectations among residents in the southeastern camps where the notices appeared;
- Somali Canadians have as a result been pressured by relatives in these camps to put in undertakings;
- This has caused great frustration in the community for those unable to make these commitments. In addition, the fact that the CIC officers knew nothing of these notices, and denied their existence, added confusion to frustration;
Therefore be it resolved
That the CCR strongly urge the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to honour the promise implicit in these notices, and facilitate the entry to Canada of parents and their dependent children through the government sponsorship process, where the family in Canada is not yet sufficiently settled to place an undertaking of assistance.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement