CCR Resolutions Database

1. A humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Sri Lanka since early this year;
2. More than 300,000 Tamils displaced in the North and East of Sri Lanka are trapped in a deteriorating humanitarian situation and Tamils in other parts of Sri Lanka are vulnerable to harassment, humiliation and threat of violence;

1. Shelling is occurring in northern Iraq;
2. The relationship between the Kurdistan province in northern Iraq and the central government is fragile and could lead to violence at any time;
3. Iraqis are being deported from European countries to Iraq;
4. Canada has a moratorium on returns to Iraq;

1. Detention is a recourse of last resort;
2. Detention of minors must be an exceptional measure;
3. The best interests of the child must be taken into consideration by the government and its tribunals;

the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta of Nigeria, in the number of about 1,000 persons, have been living in Kpomasse refugee camp in Benin for a period of approximately 10 years;

1. There are 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Iraq at Camp Ashraf who were granted protected persons status under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the Multinational Forces in Iraq. In December 2008 protection of the Camp was handed over to the Government of Iraq;
2. In January 2009, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al Rubaie threatened to make life “intolerable” for the residents of Camp Ashraf in order to spur them to leave Iraq;
3. Among Al Rubaie’s threats was the forcible relocation of the residents from the Camp, where they have lived for more that two decades and constructed a fully developed town, to an empty desert near the Saudi Arabia border;
4. Both Amnesty International (AI Index: MDE 14/012/2009, 20 April 2009) and the European Parliament (resolution April 24, 2009) have protested Al Rubaie’s threat of intolerable treatment;
5. The recent introduction of a large Iraqi police force into Camp Ashraf despite the presence of both the Iraqi and US military at the Camp has alarmed the international community;
6. George Okoth-Obbo, Director of International Protection, UNHCR, in March 2007 asked the Government of Iraq to refrain from any action that could endanger the life or security of the residents of Camp Ashraf such as their forcible displacement inside Iraq;

1. Concurrent processing of family members of persons accepted on H&C grounds in Canada was abolished in 2004;
2. This has resulted in a significant delay in family reunification for persons accepted on H&C grounds;
3. Many of these people have compelling humanitarian and compassionate considerations and/or were wrongly refused refugee status;

1. A humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Sri Lanka since early this year;
2. More than 300,000 Tamils displaced in the North and East of Sri Lanka are trapped in a deteriorating humanitarian situation and Tamils in other parts of Sri Lanka are vulnerable to harassment, humiliation and threat of violence;
3. The largest Tamil diaspora community lives in Canada;

1. There are a large number of persons without status who have submitted different forms of requests to regularize their situation;
2. The main way to ask for a decision on humanitarian grounds or other grounds while a person is underground and the subject of an arrest warrant is to present themselves to the Canadian authorities;
3. People without status who present themselves to the Canadian authorities in order to regularize their status are often detained;

1. A humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Sri Lanka since early this year;
2. More than 300,000 Tamils displaced in the North and East of Sri Lanka are trapped in a deteriorating humanitarian situation and Tamils in other parts of Sri Lanka are vulnerable to harassment, humiliation and threat of violence;

1. The protection of Canadian citizens overseas, including Mr. Abousfian Abdelrazik who is stuck in Sudan, is an essential component of citizenship rights;
2. The denial of a Canadian passport to Mr. Abdelrazik may set a negative precedent of two-tier citizenship and leave citizens with a refugee background in orbit;

1. Section 60 of IRPA says that detention of children should be a measure of last resort;
2. Regulation 249 obliges the consideration of alternatives to detention where children are concerned;
3. The Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges Canada to give primary consideration to the best interests of the child;
4. Children are held in detention centres in Canada either because they are detained or because they are accompanying their detained guardians;
5. CBSA and IRB do not give primary consideration to best interests of the child in their decision-making with regards to detention of children;

1. The right to access asylum in Canada is a legal international obligation under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees;
2. Resettlement of refugees from abroad, although not an obligation under the Convention, is a demonstration of Canada’s responsibility sharing and commitment to refugees;
3. The global trend of States to limiting access to asylum is causing the shrinkage of asylum space as the needs increase,

1. Canada is a party to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons;
2. The Protocol includes an internationally agreed definition of trafficking in persons;
3. The definition in existing Canadian law relating to the offence of trafficking in persons (in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and in the Criminal Code) is not as broad as the internationally agreed definition;
4. More particularly, the definition of “exploitation” in the Criminal Code requires that the trafficked person be afraid for their safety or the safety of someone known to them;
5. Trafficked persons may not feel or demonstrate subjective fear as required by the Criminal Code;

1. There has been no functioning central government and/or other public institutions to protect vulnerable groups and/or prevent human rights abuses in Somalia since 1991;
2. In the past year, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders have been the victims of an increased number of targeted killings on the part of both the Transitional Federal Government and armed militia groups;
3. Humanitarian workers, human rights defenders and civilians who are not protected are forced to flee both inside and outside their country in order to find protection;

1. The Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program was established on the principle of additionality;
2. In November 2006, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration increased the upper limit of the PSR target to 4,500 persons in order to allow for flexibility for sponsors to respond to visa office referred cases without decreasing the number of sponsor referred cases processed;

1. Canada is signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
2. The Final Report of the Standing Senate Committee On Human Rights, published in April 2007, concluded that “...one of its primary proposals should be the establishment of a children’s Commissioner at the federal level in Canada...” (p. 202).

1. The CCR adopted a resolution in November 1994 in regard to education and guidelines on sexual orientation for the IRB;
2. The 1994 resolution does not address specific training with the IRB in regard to trans communities, nor does it recognize education and training for CIC and CBSA employees;

1. Canada is a party to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons;

1. The Protocol includes assistance to and protection of trafficked persons;

1. The federal government has a responsibility for immigration and settlement;

1. The Colombian conflict has not lessened during the last year;
2. Different international organizations have pointed to the continuation of political persecution and human rights violations;
3. Displacement levels are higher than ever before;

1. Canada is signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
2. Timely family reunification and a full and timely assessment of a child’s best interest are fundamental elements of Canada’s obligations under the said Convention;
3. In February 2005, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration implemented a program to reduce the processing times of sponsorships of spouses living abroad and to prevent, where possible, the separation of spouses in Canada;
4. A child’s interests and rights are of equal or greater concern;

1. The Temporary Foreign Worker program has greatly expanded;
2. There have been numerous incidents of worker abuse and exploitation;
3. When spouses and children accompany Temporary Foreign Workers, there are very limited options for them;

1. CIC is considering implementing a new “Canadian Experience” Class;
2. CIC has indicated that this proposed new class will be restricted to highly skilled workers;

1. The Canadian government has proceeded with extradition requests against Protected Persons, putting them at risk of return to the country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution;
2. In some cases the extradition request seems to be based on evidence that may be motivated by racism;

1. Resettled refugees and dependants abroad of protected persons are required to repay the costs of overseas medical exams, IOM processing charges, and travel costs;
2. Under IRPA, Canada has made a commitment to resettle refugees who are most in need of protection, many of whom have multiple barriers to their integration;
3. Repayment of these loans by single mothers, youth, and families further marginalizes and impoverishes these groups, diminishing their capacity to integrate;