Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Best interests

Resolution number
5
Whereas
  1. Presently no guidelines exist at the IRB with respect to making children's best interests a primary consideration in appropriate cases before it;
  2. The need to assign primary consideration to the best interests of children is required by international legal instruments to which Canada is a party;
  3. The Federal Court of Canada has failed to give effect to the best interests of children representing more than a consideration in immigration matters affecting children's interests;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Encourage the IRB to develop guidelines for the Immigration Appeal Division and the Convention Refugee Determination Division appertaining to the best interests of children in light of the principle of family reunification and Canada's international legal obligations, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on adoptions;
  2. Urge the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to adopt and implement the guidelines so developed for both inland and visa office cases.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Family reunification
IRB

The ability to refer refugees for consideration under the Joint Assistance Sponsorship program

Resolution number
7
Whereas
  1. The Sponsorship Agreement notes as Principle #3 the ability of the Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) to submit undertakings for refugees referred by the sponsor and further to this, Appendix 3 describes the roles and responsibility of this undertaking in Joint Assistance Sponsorships;
  2. The ability to refer refugees for resettlement to Canada has been of longstanding importance to sponsors and to the CCR and it has been the practice of some sponsors to refer refugees for consideration under the Joint Assistance Program;
  3. The new regulations require a sponsor to sign a CR3 undertaking at the front-end of a referral of a refugee for consideration as a CR5, thus negating the need for the visa post to give due consideration to the eligibility for the CR5 programs and obliging the sponsor to fulfil their undertaking for full support as a CR3;
  4. Citizenship and Immigration Canada commits in the Sponsorship Agreement (page 6 - j) to make "best efforts to give notice of any change in policy, regulations or legislation that is likely to affect this Sponsorship Agreement": and this notice was not made;
  5. There is no mechanism available to sponsors to make referrals under the Joint Assistance Program other than by signing the undertaking as a CR3;
  6. NGOs overseas have the ability to refer refugees to the visa post for consideration as CR5s;
  7. CIC has indicated that it is difficult to identify enough refugees for resettlement in order to meet its annual targets;
  8. Joint Assistance Sponsorship cases may have community links in the destination community who will enhance the potential for successful establishment of otherwise difficult cases;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Urge Citizenship and Immigration:
    (i)to allow private sponsors in Canada to retain their ability to identify and refer refugees for consideration for resettlement to Canada as CR5s under the Joint Assistance and Women at Risk Programs;
    (ii)not to oblige private sponsors, in making the referral, to provide a CR3 undertaking at the time of referral as is described in the Operations Memorandum "Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program: in Canada": and to revise the Operations Memorandum to reflect this, especially in Sections 8.4, 9.2.1 and 9.2.2;
  2. Request the NGO-Government Committee on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees to support this resolution;
  3. Request that CIC enter into consultation with private sponsors and other stakeholders to seek ways to address the issues of concern currently hampering the referral of named refugees under the CR5 Program.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Private sponsorship

Adhoc committee on blended resettlement programs

Resolution number
6
Whereas
CIC has often expressed interest in a blended sponsorship program;
Therefore be it resolved

That:

  1. The CCR call on CIC to form an Adhoc Committee to begin the process of developing a Canadian resettlement program blending the assistance of CIC, private groups and settlement services;
  2. The Adhoc Committee include a) the NGO-Government Committee on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees; b) representatives selected by the CCR Working Groups on Overseas Protection and Sponsorship and representatives selected by the CCR Working Group on Settlement; as well as c) other possible resource people and stakeholders.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Private sponsorship

Afghan refugees in Pakistan

Resolution number
5
Whereas
  1. The Focus Humanitarian Program focuses only on Ismaili refugees and other Afghan refugees do not have access to it;
  2. Local Canadian language training programs in Pakistan for Afghan refugees are exclusively for members of the Ismaili Community;
  3. Other requests for language training preparation for Afghan refugees have been rejected on the basis of the presence of the Focus Humanitarian language training program;
  4. The situation of refugees and displaced Afghans particularly women has deteriorated as previously noted in Resolution 12 of November 1996;
  5. Most humanitarian aid programs to Afghan refugees have been cut back;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Call on the Canadian Government to expand its language training program in Pakistan for refugee women coming to Canada so that they are not limited to refugees admitted under the Focus Humanitarian Program;
  2. Remind the Government of Canada of its Resolution 7 of November 1995 and urge CIDA to assist Afghan refugee women in Pakistan by establishing income generating projects;
  3. Remind Citizenship and Immigration of its Resolution 12 of November 1996 and the need to respond to the situation of Afghan refugee women through expedited processing.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Travel loans

Resolution number
10
Whereas

Groups applying for Joint Assistance Sponsorships for Women at Risk can face unexpected requests for travel costs in addition to the resettlement support they promised;

Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR urge the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to:

  1. Ensure that Canada's response to its international obligations with respect to refugees such as women at risk is unambiguous and independent of voluntary cash contributions from the Canadians who are willing to make possible resettlement by the government in other ways;
  2. Introduce clarity into refugee resettlement programs so that Canadians who come forward to assist the government can predict the costs before they begin and do not suddenly face requests for cash contributions for travel costs.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Transportation loans

Overseas refusals

Resolution number
9
Whereas
  1. Visa officers appear to be refusing an increasing number of privately sponsored refugee applicants;
  2. There is no appeal from such refusals except by way of judicial review which few applicants are aware of or resourced to pursue;
  3. Canada Immigration National Headquarters staff have indicated no more exact figure than that between 40% and 60% of privately sponsored refugees are refused;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Obtain from the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration broad based statistical information on refusals of privately sponsored applications.
  2. Request that the Minister put in place policy which requires visa posts to give sponsoring groups and refugee applicants detailed reasons for the refusal of an application.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Overseas processing

Guatemala

Resolution number
8
Whereas
  1. Human rights violations in Guatemala have increased significantly since the April 1998 assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera two days after he presented the report of the Interdiocesan Project to Recover the Historical Memory (REMHI) which named some of the perpetrators involved in torture, killings, massacres and disappearances;
  2. The REMHI report not only documents 55,021 cases of victims, holding the Guatemalan Army and paramilitary squads responsible for 85.4% of the crimes and the insurgency responsible for 9.3% of those crimes, but also exposes the way the repressive apparatus operates allowing powerful perpetrators of human rights violations to continue to act with impunity;
  3. Luis Yat, indigenous mayor of El Quiche was assassinated in front of his wife and children last May 6 and numerous members of indigenous, women's and human rights organizations continue to be threatened and intimidated;
  4. The Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) requested the Guatemalan State to provide protective measures for 110 members of REMHI and workers at the Human Rights Office of the Catholic Archdiocese who are at risk;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and ask that the number of government-assisted refugees from Guatemala be increased and that she direct her department to take note of the worsening human rights situation in Guatemala when considering risk assessments, humanitarian and compassionate applications and deferring removals.
  2. Write to the government of Guatemala to demand that they protect the 110 members of REMHI and workers at the Human Rights Office of the Catholic Archdiocese.
  3. Write to the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking him to protest to the Guatemalan government at the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera and to pressure the Guatemalan government to protect the REMHI members and Human Rights Office workers.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Assyrian Christians

Resolution number
7
Whereas
  1. There are 3,000 Assyrian Christians who fled Iraq due to the war and persecution and are living temporarily in Jordan;
  2. There are 2,000 Assyrian Christians living temporarily in Turkish refugee camps;
  3. There have been many cases of further mistreatment in both Turkey and Jordan;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Write to the UNHCR and ask them to monitor the treatment of Christian Assyrians by the Jordanian and Turkish governments.
  2. Write to the Turkish and Jordanian authorities and ask that they protect refugees in their countries.
  3. Write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and request that her department meet with the Assyrian Christian community and help them sponsor Assyrian refugees to Canada.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Colombia refugee support

Resolution number
6
Whereas
  1. The violation of human rights in Colombia has reached unprecedented and outrageous levels;
  2. The targets of this violence are key institutions of civil society (human rights groups; church, justice and peace groups; workers and trade union leaders; peasant and indigenous organizations);
  3. The Colombian government has proven, once again, to be unwilling and incapable of curbing the atrocities committed by the military and especially the paramilitary formations;
  4. An estimated one million Colombians are internally displaced within the country;
  5. Colombia was added to the Source Country list this year;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Demand that the Government of Canada put special emphasis immediately on Colombian nationals at risk of human rights violations, including expediting the processing of persons applying through the Humanitarian Designated (Source Country) class;
  2. Urge the Government of Canada to strongly condemn the serious and escalating human rights violations in Colombia in all international and regional fora and in particular:
    a) request the UN Human Rights Commission convene a special session on Colombia;
    b) raise concerns about Colombia at the next meeting of the OAS general assembly;
  3. Urge the Government of Canada to cease all sales of military equipment to Colombia, including all "dual purpose" equipment that could have military application.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement

Pending cases

Resolution number
12
Whereas
  1. Some countries interpret the Refugee Convention in a narrow and technical manner denying effective protection to refugees;
  2. Canadian visa officers sometimes show too much deference to the decisions of tribunals of other countries which have refused refugee claims which under the Canadian interpretation of the Convention would be accepted;
  3. Canada's visa offices are inconsistent in their efforts to establish meaningful channels of communication with local and Canadian NGOs involved in resettlement;
  4. Canada has failed to put in place meaningful review of negative decisions despite a refusal rate significantly higher than other resettlement countries;
  5. Applicants for resettlement from some countries are deported from those countries despite having applications for resettlement to Canada pending, particularly in light of the frequent long processing times for such applications;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Call on the appropriate departments of the Government of Canada to:

     

    a)remind visa offices of the often broader interpretation of the Refugee Convention in Canadian law than that demonstrated by some other countries, particularly with respect to the absence of a requirement for persecution to be at the hands of the state;

    b)ensure that in cases where the applicant does not meet the Convention definition but has a private sponsorship that the relatively broader provisions of the Asylum Class are thoroughly considered;

    c)strengthen and regularize consultation between visa offices and local and Canadian NGOs involved in resettlement;

    d)establish and implement a meaningful review of negative decisions on resettlement cases similar to that recently adopted by US INS;

  2. Call on the Government of Canada to play a prominent role in convincing other governments to interpret the Convention in a broad manner;
  3. Ask the Government of Canada to urge other governments to allow applicants for resettlement in Canada to remain in their countries of asylum pending determination of their applications by Canada.
Working Group
Overseas Protection and Resettlement
Subject
Appeal
Overseas processing
Private sponsorship
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