Inland Protection

1. The increasing number of separated refugee children in Canada has drawn attention to the protection gaps existing in Canada, in particular the inconsistent practices regarding care and guardianship of separated refugee children in different provinces;
2. Canada has obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

The CCR has adopted Resolution 12 of May 2001;

Persons of certain countries of origin such as Pakistan and some African states appear to be detained on the basis of identity for extended periods;

1. The IRB draft rules provide criteria for the appointment of designated representatives for child refugee claimants which do not include cultural and language awareness and sensitivity to the needs of children;
2. CIC has no criteria for the appointment of designated representatives;

1. Separated children are by definition without the care and protection of their parents or other primary caregivers, often face many dangers during their flight and arrive in Canada disoriented and frightened;
2. Front-end security interviews require separated children to respond to often lengthy and detailed questions including those related to their refugee claim;
3. Separated children would be unlikely to know of the 1951 Refuge Convention reasons and their flight reasons are frequently multi-factorial and may include child-specific violations of human rights;
4. It is inappropriate that children under 18 be interviewed in the absence of a parent or guardian;

1. There is in Zimbabwe a large number of extra-judicial executions, forced disappearances and cases of systematic sexual violence reported by Amnesty International, constituting a situation of massive, flagrant and systematic human rights abuses in international law;
2. There is a strong concern with the abuse of the "no credible basis" finding in Zimbabwean refugee hearings;

1. More than a thousand people are presently awaiting a hearing at the IRB for a repeat claim;
2. The transitional measures will have the consequence of depriving these claimants of their repeat claim by deeming them ineligible under IRPA;
3. IRPA bars access to PRRA for repeat claimants who have returned to Canada less than 6 months after their departure;
4. Many of these repeat claimants returned to Canada more than 3 months but less than 6 months after their departure, and would thus be ruled ineligible for PRRA;
5. A significant number of repeat claims are determined to be refugees;

1. The Canadian government intends to sign a "None is Too Many" agreement with the USA;
2. Under IRPA the Canadian government has confirmed its intention of only detaining minors as a last resort;
3. In the USA, the immigration authorities detain on average 5,000 separated children every year;

1. The government has recently announced that they would delay the implementation of the RAD;
2. This announcement is a betrayal of parliament's will as expressed in the IRPA;
3. The CCR, UNHCR and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights consider an appeal on the merits to be essential for a coherent, consistent and fair refugee determination process;
4. Next month the government is announcing a "None is Too Many" agreement with the U.S. which would shut our borders to most refugees;
5. The U.S. systematically detains undocumented refugees and places them with convicted criminals;

1. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has delayed the implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division without postponing the introduction of one-member IRB panels;
2. Refugee claimants' right to a fair hearing is thereby inadequately protected;
3. The Minister announced orally on May 17, 2002 that he would implement the appeal within one year;