CCR Resolutions Database

1. CIC changes the terms and conditions of temporary work permit programs every year;
2. This information is not made available to NGOs or others that try to assist individuals on temporary work permits.

1. UNHCR’s stated mandate is to facilitate and support the voluntary repatriation of refugees in safety and dignity to their home countries when conditions within the country are sufficiently stable to sustain their return.
2. The international community has strong interest involuntary repatriation as a durable solution for refugees
3. The international community are donors of UNHCR and financially support its efforts.
4. The levels of support to sustain persons during their repatriation process are grossly inadequate and do not provide the means forre-establishment. This is the situation for Sierra Leoneans currently repatriating.

children of many refugee claimants, failed refugee claimants and children who are themselves refugee claimants or failed refugee claimants are unable to attend post secondary educational institutions while they or their parent(s) are awaiting a decision on an application to CIC due to the high cost of that education. These children are considered international students.

1. Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) represent one of the most important mechanisms for Canada to protect those refugees in need of protection;
2. In recent years CIC has been selecting GARs on the basis of need rather than “ability to settle in Canada” which CCR warmly welcomes, which has resulted in increased demands on settlement agencies because of their very high needs;
3. CIC has recently suggested that this increased demand on services can best be met by reducing the number of GARs.

1. Many refugees are people of colour who encounter systemic, institutional and financial barriers to full participation in CCR.
2. Refugees and people of colour have played and continue to play a vital role in the CCR.
3. The People of Colour Caucus provides a space where leadership by refugees and people of colour can be nurtured.

1. There are many protected persons who delay in applying for landing beyond the 180 days because of their inability to raise the $550 cost recovery fee, or other valid reasons;
2. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has not yet satisfactorily responded to the CCR request to eliminate the $550 processing fee for protected persons;
3. The IP5 Guidelines state incorrectly that protected persons who apply late for landing and are being processed as humanitarian and compassionate cases, must meet all the normal admissibility criteria for immigrants, including medical, financial and identity document criteria.
4. Protected persons who are being processed as H&C cases and who don’t have “satisfactory identity documents” are being refused landing.

1. PRRA is not a substitute for an appeal on the merits of the case;
2. The PRRA process is dysfunctional and demonstrates a lack of respect for international human rights norms and for the Suresh decision of the Supreme Court of Canada;
3. There is inconsistent application by PRRA decision-makers in the consideration of what constitutes sufficient evidence and expert evidence.
4. There are insufficient guidelines for PRRA decision-makers with respect to how they are to evaluate evidence.

1. Workers on temporary work permits are not aware of their rights under the program and the charter;
2. Many workers are not permitted by employers to retain their personal documentation such as passport, return air ticket and health card.

1. The violence and lawlessness in Iraq continues to escalate and the possibility of a peaceful solution does not seem imminent,
2. Many Canadian families have been impacted by resulting tragedies,
3. Relatives and friends and former neighbours of Canadians are fleeing Iraq for Syria, Jordan and Turkey on a daily basis,
4. They feel compelled to flee because a member of their family has already been targeted and killed, because they have received death threats, because their children have been kidnapped and held for ransom or because of vendettas in the context of lawlessness,
5. The UNHCR has suspended Refugee Status Determination for Iraqis and
6. Those who have sought asylum in Turkey, Syria and Jordan are struggling to meet their basic needs because they left their belongings behind and they are not allowed to work.

1. PRRA and H&C applications are assessed by the same immigration officer in many cases;
2. The grounds are to be considered under PRRA are different than H&C considerations.

1. UNHCR recognizes voluntary repatriation as one of the three durable solutions and thus actively promotes it when and where conditions permit.
2. These conditions must be not merely transient but fundamental such as the restoration and rehabilitation of infrastructure, restitution of land and lost property, and all other factors which make voluntary repatriation sustainable.
3. It is crucial that refugees, including refugee women, have a say in all decisions and activities that affect them, including decisions and activities on voluntary repatriation.

1. Everyone in Canada has a Charter right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression.
2. Everyone in a state which has ratified the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has an obligation to promote those rights.
3. The Québec Charter of Rights and Freedoms places a duty on everyone to protect the life of another.
4. The government of Canada has failed to implement the appeal on the merits for refugee claimants, depriving refused claimants of an important safeguard contained in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
5. The Canadian government has itself acknowledged problems with the refugee determination system, which it has claimed to have addressed with recent changes to the nomination process for IRB members and the introduction of regulations regarding immigration consultants.

1. CIC has recently recognized and supported the need for additional language training for skilled immigrants, as demonstrated by the Enhanced Language Training (ELT) funding.
2. CIC has greatly increased the arrivals of high-needs, low Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)scoring government-assisted refugees (GARs).
3. Research and experience clearly demonstrate that very low CLB literacy scoring newcomers require substantial additional instruction and support.

1. There is a long, 2-3 year backlog of privately sponsored refugee applications.
2. CCR adopted Res. 13, May 02 on long processing times.
3. All government-assisted refugees (GARs) are now referred by the UNHCR (other than in source countries) and CCR has repeatedly been told that there are limited visa office resources.

1. Essential principles of access to refugee protection, due process, and fundamental justice are increasingly under attack in Canada and in other refugee-receiving countries.
2. The government has indicated that it intends to reform the refugee determination process in Canada.

1. In practice, Palestinian refugees are excluded from the mandate of the UNHCR in the host counties.
2. UNRWA, unlike UNHCR, is not mandated to provide protection and security to Palestinian refugees under its administration.
3. Palestinian refugees have lived without status or protection, often in refugee camps for over 56 years.

1. 75% of GARs currently arriving in Canada have special needs.
2. Settlement agencies and sponsors are not equipped to respond to these special needs.
3. These special needs include urgent medical needs.

1. There have been long-standing difficulties in obtaining exit permits from Turkey for privately sponsored refugees.
2. CIC has decided unilaterally to close all current private sponsorship files, including cases which have already been accepted by the visa post to come to Canada.
3. The Sponsorship Agreement states that the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program “is a symbiotic partnership between SAHs and CIC wherein each relies on the other to fulfill their responsibilities in order for the program to succeed” and “the partnership … provides a framework where SAHs may collaborate with CIC to respond to special measures … and emergency situations” (Principles b and g).

1. The news about torture, murders and disappearance of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay by American and coalition forces has shocked the conscience of the world and has led to widespread reaction in the USA and elsewhere.
2. An Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, dealing with the mandate of the UN Committee against Torture to enter and monitor conditions in places of detention, has been adopted by the UN General Assembly and is ready for accession.

1. The current military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip violates a plethora of international human rights conventions which Canada has ratified.
2. Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are facing a humanitarian disaster.

1. CCR passed Resolution 19,Dec. 2000 on combating homophobia and heterosexism and Resolution 4, May1998 on the need to develop internal policies that affirm the rights of individuals.
2. CCR should lead by example in combating homophobia and heterosexism in the CCR membership and the immigrant and refugee serving communities.

The iCAMS system has been implemented across the country, and has proven to be a major burden to agencies, and cannot produce accurate and useful reports for either agencies or CIC.

1. The problems with the IFH program have been mounting.
2. The IFH Advisory Committee has become inactive.

1. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations state that the Minister can suspend removals to a country or place where there is a situation of generalized risk.
2. Where there is no functioning government, civilians are at generalized risk.

1. There is demonstrable confusion within IRB and PRRA regarding the status of stateless Palestinian refugees, and the conditions they have fled.
2. This lack of understanding has led to inconsistent and ill-informed decision-making.