CCR Resolutions Database

1. The causes of refugee flows are persecution as well as human rights violations, civil war, extreme poverty, unfair and unjust global economic relationships, and related factors;
2. The industrialized countries have expressed commitment to enter a new, meaningful and effective partnership with Africa in the framework of NEPAD;

1. The CCR has passed several resolutions outlining its views about the treatment of persons from countries to which Canada does not deport;
2. There is a growing number of people who have been in Canada for many years without any clear prospect for resolving their situations, since humanitarian and compassionated guidelines doe not deal explicitly with their cases;
3. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Denis Coderre, lifted the suspension of removals to Algeria on April 5, 2002, without any plan as to the disposition of those cases especially for those people who have been in Canada for over three years;
4. There is now a special procedure for Algerians, including an examination of their integration process by Quebec Immigration (MRCI) for persons in Quebec;
5. There are unanswered questions as to the examination of other humanitarian considerations, particularly marriages and ‘the best interests of the child';

1. Refugees recognized in Canada have already undergone a medical on arriving in Canada;
2. CIC is interpreting the new immigration legislation to require a second medical, on application for permanent residence, where more than 12 months have passed since the first medical.
3. It is arbitrary, inefficient and discriminatory to target refugees simply because the waiting period between their arrival in Canada and their application for permanent residence exceeds 12 months.

1. In Canada, CIC has engaged a process of revitalizing the private sponsorship of refugees program;
2. CIC has consistently informed Sponsorship Agreement Holders that there are limited resources for processing applications overseas;
3. Currently there are applications for over 10,000 individuals and only 2,900 will be processed in this year;
4. CIC has also given the message that the backlog of private sponsorship applications are due to a high number of cases which do not fit eligibility criteria;

1. The Government, in the context of private refugee sponsorship, claims to be committed to the principle of additionality;
2. Visa post staffing was drastically cut in the mid 90s;
3. The overseas processing time for refugees is disgracefully long. (Departmental informants tell us that currently, from the time the completed IMM8s are received at the visa post until the interview takes place is 21 months in Nairobi and 36 months in Damascus.)
4. The overseas delays make it increasingly difficult to sustain the interest of sponsors in the private sponsorship program;
5. The Government is committed to move toward annual immigration targets of 1% of the population of Canada;

1. International human rights instruments which Canada has signed require that children's best interests be given priority consideration;
2. A number of recent decisions by H and C and PRRA officers seem to indicate that full consideration of the best interests of the child is not being applied;
3. There are no written guidelines to follow for CIC officers when assessing the best interests of the child, and the new IP5 manual does not deal satisfactorily with this issue:

1. Gender claims can take time to emerge , especially if the agent of persecution is a family member or the principal applicant, and the woman's claim was not heard;
2. The PRRA could be one remedy for a gender-based claim that was not previously heard;

1. Immigrants and refugees with and without status have contributed to Canada's economic and social well-being throughout this country's history;
2. Canada is home to many immigrants and refugees who do not have permanent resident status;
3. These immigrants and refugees have come to Canada for a variety of reasons, including social problems, war, political persecution, family reunification and economic dislocation, often as a result of globalization and trade liberalization;
4. An increasingly restrictive Canadian immigration policy screens out all but a select few;
5. The Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement could create more non-status persons by forcing refugee claimants to turn to desperate measures in an attempt to reach their destinations;
6. Organizations such as the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians (VACC), le Comité d'action des sans statut, the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and STATUS (Campaign to regularize Non-Status Immigrants) recognize the struggles persons without status face here in Canada;
7. As members of the CCR, we are part of a progressive organization that is committed to the rights and protection of refugees in Canada and to the settlement of refugees and immigrants in Canada;

1. The new permanent resident card is costing each immigrant from $50 - $300;
2. Agency staff is spending inordinate amounts of time in completing these applications;

1. Since 1985 many Tibetans have been living in India and Nepal without prospects of local integration;
2. Today the deteriorating political situation in India and Nepal has further placed these refugees in jeopardy;

1. Canada is proposing to implement the Safe Third Country Agreement;
2. The USA is involved in regional conflicts e.g. Plan Colombia, Andean Initiatives, and Middle East conflicts which create internally displaced persons and asylum seekers;
3. CCR recognizes that US asylum procedures may be prejudicial and/or biased towards asylum seekers from countries that have significant US involvement in those countries' conflicts;

1. Unsuccessful refugee claimants who have exhausted all remedies in Canada may be interested in voluntary return to their countries;
2. Such unsuccessful refugee claimants have a need for informed and independent counselling about the pros and cons of such a decision;
3. In some European countries, NGOs have developed programs to provide counselling for those unsuccessful claimants who are considering voluntary return, including partial return of taxes or pension contributions and establishment money;
4. CIC has began to pilot voluntary return programs and those subject to such programs receive no counselling on their rights and options except from CIC officials and no assistance except for the cost of airfare in some cases;

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, HRDC, Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage plan to improve the process for recognizing foreign credentials, for example by allowing for the process to begin overseas; coordinating credential evaluation processes; setting up a single source of information and licensing requirements and establishing norms for work experience;

1. Voluntary repatriation is one of the durable solutions to the problems of refugees;
2. According to repatriation guidelines, sustainable living conditions must be ensured before repatriation operations are undertaken;
3. The current conditions in Afghanistan do not fulfill the required conditions because of security problems, human rights violations and general unrest and instability;

1. Africa continues to be a source of refugees and international migration as a result of internal conflicts and political instabilities;
2. The Canadian Government has classified a number of African countries as ‘Source Countries' of refugees;
3. Refugees from these countries are not benefiting from such classification due to logistical and bureaucratic challenges;
4. The International Region of CIC has not developed any strategic plan to deal with the protection and resettlement of refugees from African Source Countries;

1. The questions around the care and protection of separated children arriving in Canada are a growing concern;
2. The CCR contributed to the preparation of the ‘Best Practices' document developed by the Focal Point on Separated Children in the Americas, a project of the International Bureau on Children's Rights;
3. The Focal Point on Separated Children in the Americas has asked for endorsement by organizations;

1. GBA of the impact of IRPA is mandated through legislation;
2. A report of the Gender impacts will be included in the Minister's annual report each year;

1. The current HRDC priorities for funding are: women, youth, aboriginal people, people with disabilities;
2. The current HRDC practice provides no resources to assist new Canadians to fully participate in the Canadian labour market;
3. These policies are designed to assist disadvantaged populations to enter the mainstream labour market;
4. The integration of newcomers to the Canadian labour market requires a head start equal to that of the already identified groups;

1. The government of Canada is now contemplating the use of temporary work permits to attract new immigrants to settle in smaller communities:
2. The use of temporary work permits with geographical limitations to attract potential immigrants and their families to Canada is cruel and damaging, if, for some reasons beyond their reasonable control, permanent residency is not eventually granted;
3. Restricting mobility within Canada is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and will create two classes of residents;
4. Restricting settlement in certain areas without adequate access to settlement, economic and social services may impose undue hardship on new immigrants and the host communities.

1. A Vietnamese group of about 2000 refugees screened out by the Comprehensive Plan of Action still lives in Palawan, Philippines in very poor conditions and without any prospect of a durable solution for either repatriation or local integration;
2. This group of refugees has ties to Canada through family and other community links;
3. The Vietnamese Canadian community is offering sponsorship under the Private Sponsorship Program;
4. UNHCR has acknowledged that this group of persons is in need of a durable solution;

1. The IRPA eliminates the right to a hearing before the IRB for anyone who is sentenced to two years or more in jail for a crime committed in Canada, regardless of his or her personal circumstances;
2. The diversity of circumstances of those affected by this provision encompasses cases where compassion and equity should be extended;

1. In 1994, CCR passed a resolution urging the implementation of the recommendations outlined in "After the Door Has Been Opened" in regard to the mental health of refugee and immigrants;
2. There has been no documented implementation or follow-up on the recommendations;
3. There are limited and restricting resources for mental health services under the Interim Federal Health Program;

1. Knowledge Matters documents the necessity of integrating the skills of immigrants into the Canadian labour market;
2. HRDC is encouraging the development of cross-sectoral partnerships to facilitate labour market integration;

1. The Canadian Government has enacted new regulations for managing access to the refugee resettlement program;
2. The new provisions require refugees seeking resettlement to obtain a private sponsorship, or a referral from UNHCR or a designated referral organization;
3. No referral organizations have been designated to date, other than UNHCR, and none is likely be designated before the end of 2003;
4. Refugee referrals to the refugee resettlement programme will be insufficient to meet the targets for 2003;
5. There is a limited exception for direct access for refugee referrals in certain geographic regions which the Minister designates;

1. Children make up approximately as much as half of all asylum seekers in the industrialized world;
2. Refugee and immigrant youth are particularly vulnerable and have a unique set of needs;