Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Forcible return of iranian refugees by turkey

Resolution number
24
Whereas
  1. The government of Iran has struck two separate extradition treaties with the governments of Turkey and Pakistan;
  2. Pakistan and Turkey are so-called "first countries of asylum" for refugees fleeing from Iran;
  3. It was reported widely and confirmed by Amnesty International that in return for 14 alleged Kurdish political activists extradited to Turkey, the government of Turkey has extradited at least on one occasion 6 UNHCR refugees to Iran;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR demand that the Canadian government:

  1. Pressure the Turkish and Pakistani governments to adhere to the principle of non-refoulement (article 33 of the Geneva Convention);
  2. Condemn the violation of human rights by the governments of Iran, Turkey and Pakistan and pursue the prevention of the improper use of the extradition treaties by the signatories.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

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

Haitian refugees

Resolution number
22
Whereas
  1. The United States continues to return Haitians picked up in international waters directly to Haiti;
  2. Previous CCR resolutions of May '92 and Nov. '92 have called upon the Canadian government to
    1. Support the UNHCR statement of May '92 criticizing US actions against Haitian asylum seekers;
    2. Make representations to the US not to return Haitians to Haiti; and
    3. Select a certain number of Haitians for resettlement in Canada;
  3. The Canadian government has not publicly responded to these demands;
  4. The United States is now putting forward a plan involving other governments for processing Haitian refugees in the Caribbean region;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Call upon the Canadian government to:
    1. Publicly clarify the positions it has taken in its discussions with the United States and in multilateral discussions;
    2. Take all available measures, in consultation with the NGO sector, to ensure that
      1. Any screening process set up in the region includes all necessary safeguards for meaningful protection;
      2. No appropriate solutions, such as third country resettlement, be excluded before individual cases are examined;
    3. Select a certain number of Haitian refugees for resettlement in Canada; potential candidates should include Haitians now in vulnerable situations in various locations in the Americas;
  2. Call upon the UNHCR to designate adequate resources to ensure that international protection standards are upheld during this process;
  3. Approach other organizations in the development and human rights fields to support and participate in our advocacy initiatives on this issue.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Acceptance of afghan refugees

Resolution number
21
Whereas
  1. The collapse of the Communist regime in Afghanistan did not bring a lasting solution to that country, as was proposed in the UN peace plan that was never implemented, but rather precipitated a more brutal war between rival extremist warlords resulting in heavy civilian casualties, thousands more internally displaced, a new wave of over 100,000 refugees on the Pakistani border and a severe escalation of human rights abuses (as reported in the most recent 1994 publication of Amnesty International);
  2. The UN repatriation programme for Afghan refugees has become an international embarrassment and a gross failure;
  3. Recent UNHCR reports run contrary to the findings of human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and inappropriately suggest that Afghans are not in need of resettlement abroad;
  4. Afghan refugees constitute the largest refugee population in the world, but Canadian government sponsorship of Afghans had come to a halt until the recent agreement mentioned below, and the rejection rate for private sponsorship is over 90%;
  5. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration recently negotiated a joint resettlement agreement signed by Sergio Marchi and Mr Aziz Bhaloo, President of the Ismaili Council of Canada and FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance Canada;
  6. The CCR has raised concerns over Afghan refugees in conversations with the Immigration Department numerous times without any results;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Call on the government of Canada to:
    1. In addition to the Ismaili joint resettlement agreement, open the doors for all Afghan refugees, especially women and children who comprise the majority;
    2. Conduct a review of all rejected Afghan refugee sponsorship cases;
    3. Support the UN initiative to end the Afghan conflict through a negotiated settlement;
    4. Discourage neighbouring countries from arming the warring factions;
    5. Call on the UNHCR to provide more accurate information on the situation in Afghanistan;
  2. Write a letter to the government of Canada expressing the following concerns about the new joint resettlement agreement between the government of Canada and the Ismaili Council of Canada and Focus Humanitarian Assistance Canada:
    1. We are concerned that the 500 places per year for Ismailis in Pakistan are part of the current quota for government-assisted refugees for the Middle East, not in addition to that quota. Because of this, there will be fewer places available for Iranians, Iraqis, and other Afghans;
    2. This agreement seems to set a dangerous precedent for off-loading the government's obligation for resettling refugees onto ethnic groups or other private sponsors;
    3. While resettlement of Afghan refugees is welcome, we are concerned about the predetermined selection of refugees based on religious affiliation in a region where many refugees of varying religious affiliations are in need of resettlement;
    4. We urge the government either to treat these 500 refugees as privately sponsored refugees or to expand the regional quota in order to respond to the needs of refugees of all religious affiliations.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Rwandan crisis

Resolution number
20
Whereas
  1. The crisis in Rwanda persists and a special workshop on the subject was requested at the CCR conference;
  2. The genocide and massacres which began on April 6 have to date caused 500,000 victims and displaced more than 2,000,000 people and the numbers are continuing to grow;
  3. Inordinate numbers of refugees are pouring into the countries neighbouring Rwanda;
  4. The people of Rwanda are suffering a humanitarian tragedy and a social and economic crisis without historical precedent;
  5. The UN forces left Rwanda just as the genocide was launched, leaving the civilian population at risk, thus encouraging the army and the militia to massacre and calling into question their credibility
  6. There is considerable media misinformation suggesting that the war in Rwanda is ethnic, while in fact it is political;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Urge the government of Canada to:
    1. support our request for an impartial international or regional inquiry into the events which led to the genocide of the Rwandan people;
    2. support appropriate measures to ensure that following such an inquiry those responsible for the massacres are judged and punished, whether in Rwanda, here or in another country;
    3. support appropriate measures to establish a democratic government of national unity and to ensure respect for human rights, in the spirit of the Arusha Accord;
    4. continue its generous humanitarian aid to the Rwandan people;
    5. study and discuss the problem of how the local personnel employed by Canadian organizations or government were abandonned when Canadian expatriates were evacuated, in order to ensure that such a situation does not happen again;
    6. reject the imposition of conditions on the participation of Canadian forces in the UN troops, according to which 5,500 troops are to be brought together in Rwanda;
    7. implement special measures with simple and clear criteria to offer protection in Canada for those with family or other links with Canadians of Rwandan origin and to refuse visas and landing to previously identified criminals;
    8. cease all non-justified removals of Rwandans in Canada;
  2. Request its members to educate the Canadian public on the origins as well as the solutions to the current crisis in Rwanda;
  3. Request the Canadian government to finalize an urgent special procedure to collect unaccompanied orphaned minors whose sole remaining relatives are in Canada; i.e. Canadians of Rwandan origin whatever their eligibility for existing sponsorship programmes (humanitarian cases).
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Eligibility and admissibility criteria changes for refugee resettlement

Resolution number
19
Whereas
  1. The Women at Risk Programme has been under review as an integrated part of the general gender consultation, with involvement from the CCR ad hoc committee examining the Women at Risk Programme, women resettled pursuant to the Women at Risk Programme, sponsors, UNHCR, immigration officers, visa officers, and settlement counsellors;
  2. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has repeatedly acknowledged that the Women at Risk programme, the pride of Canada, was specifically established to respond to the immediate protection needs of refugee women and that the Programme has not adequately met its goals and needs improvement;
  3. The UNHCR and the CCR ad hoc committee examining the Women at Risk Programme in their research findings confirm the necessity of changing the eligibility criteria to respond to vulnerable refugee women in need of urgent protection, including women experiencing gender-related persecution;
  4. The high proportion of stream B cases being processed under the Women at Risk Programme has made the Programme a misnomer by processing cases that fit the general Joint Assistance Programme profile thereby negatively impacting on those women in need of immediate protection who are at risk;
  5. In the Proposals for Action from the Consultations on Gender Issues and Refugees, the implementation of the IRB guidelines for overseas selection and the development of regulations for the Resettlement from Abroad category are listed as actions to be taken immediately. Their immediate implementation will address some of the concerns around the eligibility criteria for selecting women for refugee resettlement, including the Women at Risk Programme;
  6. The current successful establishment component of the admissibility criteria of the refugee resettlement programme, which includes the Women at Risk Programme, is gender-biased, penalizing women refugees for systemic disadvantages which women have encountered world-wide, is an inappropriate measurement and is contradictory with the overall goal of the humanitarian refugee programme, including the Women at Risk Programme;
  7. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on behalf of the Department released a Declaration of Refugee Protection for Women on June 1, 1994 at the CCR recognizing the "need to overcome traditional male-oriented views of the potential of refugees for `successful establishment'" and the summary of findings of the Women at Risk Programme review presented to the CCR on June 2, 1994 notes that programme partners have called for the relaxing or elimination of the successful establishment component of the admissibility criteria;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR communicate to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration strongly urging:

  1. The revision of eligibility criteria for refugee resettlement programmes with special changes to the Women at Risk Programme criteria, enabling it to be a programme responsive to the urgent protection needs of refugee women;
  2. The elimination of the successful establishment component of the admissibility criteria for refugees in urgent need of protection, especially refugee women.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Separation of refugee programmes, policy and budget from immigration programmes, policy and budget

Resolution number
18
Whereas
  1. The combination of eligibility criteria for overseas refugee processing confirming the person is either a Convention Refugee or a member of a Designated Class and the admissibility criteria based on immigration criteria is a contradiction of the humanitarian and protection focus of the refugee programme;
  2. The combination of the eligibility and admissibility criteria, named above, causes the particular exclusion of women, who suffer from a gender bias in any test based on economic achievement. Sociologist Monica Boyd writes of the triple disadvantage immigrant women face in the job market - gender, nationality and race - which is further compounded by the refugee experience;
  3. The Adjustment Assistance Programme is a source of immigration funds available to support government and jointly sponsored refugees. Refugee levels take into account the budget requirements. Until most recently AAP funds were used to assist indigent immigrants, whose cases and the policy for selection is the responsibility of the immigration (not refugee) section, thereby negatively impacting on the fact that Canada has repeatedly fallen short in its overseas government-assisted refugee resettlement levels;
  4. Refugees in need of protection processed for entry to Canada are frequently denied a transportation loan based on a projection of "inability to repay the loan". The transportation loan system must be administered consistent with the policy objectives of the refugee programme i.e. protection;
  5. The issue of the separation of refugee humanitarian programmes and budget is listed as the fifth of five major topics to be referred to the broad consultations on immigration;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR Executive communicate with the Minister and Department of Citizenship and Immigration recommending that the refugee programmes, policy and budget, including Adjustment Assistance Programme and the Transportation Loan be separated from the immigration programmes, policy and budget. This process should be undertaken in conjunction with stakeholders, such as CCR, Sponsorship Agreement holders, community groups, refugees and settlement agencies. The discussions should include recommendations on the placement of Family Class, immigration levels, levels of special needs cases and programming needs.

Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Acceptance of women at risk referrals

Resolution number
17
Whereas
  1. The UNHCR and other NGOs who identify and refer Women at Risk cases to Canadian visa posts abroad have gathered adequate information on the referred cases;
  2. Numerous sources confirm that interviewing a woman for the details of her story of persecution can be an act of traumatization, and that further interviews are unnecessary and re-traumatizing;
  3. The November 1993 CCR Gender Consultations noted the importance of visa officers accepting referrals of Women at Risk cases using their discretion not to interview for the details of their persecution;
  4. In the restructuring of the Canadian visa posts visa officers have been advised to use their discretionary authority to decrease the number of interviews;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR request the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to direct visa officers to accept and process expeditiously the referrals of Women at Risk cases from the UNHCR and NGOs without an interview for the details of the persecution experience.

Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Mental health

Gender proportionality in refugee resettlement

Resolution number
16
Whereas
  1. The UNHCR estimates that 80% of the world's refugees are women and their dependants;
  2. Women refugees comprise a high proportion of the refugee camp populations;
  3. As a result of the gender consultations the need for gender proportionality in Canada's resettlement activities and the possibility of establishing targets for 1995 has been recognized and referred as a major topic to the broad consultation on immigration;
  4. Between 1985 and 1991 women comprised only 23% of the principal applicants of the refugees landed in Canada;
  5. Women refugees face various obstacles throughout the process of overseas selection, admission and integration in Canada. The strong emphasis on immigration criteria uses inappropriate measurement tools to assess a woman's ability to successfully establish in Canada;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR communicate with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration recommending:

  1. An action plan for the next five years (1995-2000) be developed by government and NGO representatives to enable the enactment of gender quotas of a minimum of 50% women as principal applicants by the year 1997. The development of this action plan should be developed in conjunction with stakeholders;
  2. A minimum level be set for the Women at Risk Programme, effective immediately. This level would include CR1 and CR5 Women at Risk and would access the 20% of the 1994 AAP monies originally destined for indigent immigrants.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Refugees and development

Resolution number
15
Whereas
  1. At the refugees and development sessions there was considerable interest in continued activity around these issues;
  2. A significant barrier to coordinated assistance to refugees and the internally displaced in countries of asylum/origin is the separation of responsibilities and different funding criteria within departments and between government ministries;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Continue to organize sessions on international refugee and development issues;
  2. Investigate initiating dialogue with CIDA, Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance to discuss the overlapping responsibilities/ funding criteria relating to refugee relief and development assistance.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
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