Overview of Canadian refugee system
The right to asylum from persecution is an international human right. This right was recognized in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The refusal of many countries – Canada, to our shame, was one of the worst offenders – to offer asylum to Jewish refugees contributed to the death toll in the genocide. This realization led to a determination not to make the same mistakes again. As a result the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was among the first human rights treaties signed in the post-war period. A host of other human rights instruments tell us more about our obligations towards refugees in particular and non-citizens more generally. Since 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides a national framework of rights which must be respected, in the case of refugees as in the case of any human being.
Canada, like other countries, is struggling to live up to its obligations towards refugees, a task in which it sometimes excels, sometimes fails. Internationally, Canada has a reputation for taking human rights seriously and for offering a generous welcome to refugees. This reputation is in part deserved and something for all Canadians to be proud of.
But Canada also fails refugees in many ways. If we are regarded as among the best in the world, it is not because we are perfect, but because the standards internationally are so low. Every day the basic rights of refugees are being violated in countless places around the world. Refugees make easy scapegoats: they are by definition foreigners in their country of asylum, they have no home to go back to, perhaps as many as half of them are children. Perversely, refugees who are virtually powerless are regarded as a threat by the powerful. Rich countries say they don’t want refugees coming there; poor countries say, if the rich won’t take in refugees, how can we be expected to?
Fortunately many people, inside and outside of government, continue
to work to make the ideal of refugee protection real. Many of them
came to Canada as refugees or are descendants of refugees. They know
the value of offering asylum to refugees and they show that we are richer
as a country when we welcome refugees.
| Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum
from persecution.
Article 14 (1), Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person
and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the
principles of fundamental justice.
Section 7, The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms |
... the refugee program is in the first instance about saving lives
and offering protection to the displaced and persecuted...
Paragraph 3 (2)(a), Objectives, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act |
In legal terms, however, the definition of refugee is much narrower. Most countries, including Canada, use the refugee definition included in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (also referred to as the “Geneva Convention”).
The definition is quite complex, but at its core it states that a refugee is a person who is outside his or her home country and who has:
a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
The Convention also contains the core obligation of states towards refugees, known as the principle of non-refoulement. This means that no state should “expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever” to any country where the refugee faces persecution.
From the definition above, we can see that, to be a refugee in the legal sense (a “Convention refugee”), it is not enough to be fleeing war, even if your life is in very real danger. You must show that you face a risk of persecution, and that persecution must be for one of the 5 grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a political group or political opinion.
The definition can be – and is – interpreted in many different ways. The more narrowly it is interpreted, the fewer people benefit from protection as refugees. For example, some states have argued that you are only a refugee if you are persecuted by the state authorities (even though this is not what the definition says). During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, there was no recognized government authority in that country, so states using this interpretation could argue that, since there was no state authority to persecute, there were no refugees from Afghanistan!
The area of gender persecution is an example of changing interpretation over time. The drafters of the Convention in 1951 were not thinking of the different forms of persecution suffered by women and men. In the 1990s Canada became the first country in the world to issue guidelines recognizing that women can be persecuted because of their gender and that the Convention can and should be interpreted to include this persecution. Since then Canadian courts have endorsed this position. Several other countries have moved in a similar direction, but it remains the case that women fleeing gender persecution have a better chance of receiving protection in Canada than in most other countries.
In recognition of Canada's other international obligations, as a party to the 1984 Convention Against Torture and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act also offers protection to people in Canada who:
– face a substantial danger of torture.
– face a risk to their life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. (These risks must not be faced generally by everyone in the country, must not be part of lawful sanctions and must not be caused by lack of adequate health or medical care.)
For people who are outside Canada, the law also provides two different categories in addition to refugees:
– Source country, for people who face persecution but are still in their country of origin. (This only applies in a small number of countries designated through Regulation).
– Country of asylum, for people who are “seriously and personally affected
by civil war, armed conflict or massive violation of human rights.”
| What makes you a refugee?
A wide range of circumstances can make a person a refugee. Here are some examples: • a human rights activist who is persecuted by the state for her criticism of government abuses. • a union leader who is threatened with violence by businesses who enjoy tacit support from the government. • a gay man or lesbian who is beaten up by gangs of homophobic hooligans in a country that outlaws homosexual acts. • a member of a religion that is being suppressed by the government. • a woman who is subjected to repeated physical abuse by her husband in a country where conjugal violence is condoned. |
• a member of an ethnic group that is persecuted by the state.
• a teacher in a country where intellectuals are denounced as traitors of the people. • a person who openly criticizes a rebel group in a country where the government cannot protect its citizens against rebel attack. • a person who is persecuted because he is suspected of opposing the government, even though he is not politically active. • the child of an imprisoned political leader who is viewed as a threat by the current regime. • the witness of a massacre committed by the military that the government wants to cover up. • a student activist after the government has suppressed a student movement. |
This distinction is recognized in the name of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the current law which came into force on 28 June 2002, replacing the former Immigration Act.
The “refugee protection” part of the Act provides for two ways for refugees to receive protection in Canada:
– the resettlement program, through which refugees who are outside Canada are brought to Canada. Resettled refugees may be assisted by the government or sponsored by groups of Canadians through the private sponsorship program.
– the refugee claim process, through which refugees who are inside Canada or at Canada’s borders have their claim to refugee protection determined.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is the federal department responsible for selecting refugees overseas (for refugees being resettled to Québec, the government of Québec also plays a role).
CIC also receives claims to refugee protection in Canada and decides whether they are eligible. However, it is the Immigration and Refugee Board that is responsible for deciding on claims, i.e. determining who needs Canada’s protection.
Applicants who have been resettled to Canada or whose claim is successful in Canada become “protected persons.” This status gives them certain rights in Canada, for example to work and to study. Most importantly, a protected person cannot be removed to a country where they risk persecution (although there are exceptions in cases of serious criminality or where the person is considered a security risk). However, the rights that go with “protected person” status are quite limited: to acquire other rights, such as the right to family reunification, protected persons must become permanent residents. The process of becoming a permanent resident is also often called by the old term “landing”.
Refugees who are resettled from overseas usually become permanent residents as soon as they arrive in Canada. However, in some urgent cases, processing is not completed by the time the refugee family arrives and several months or more pass before they become pemanent residents.
Refugees who make a claim in Canada and are granted protected person status must make a separate application for permanent residence. The landing process usually takes six months to a year, but in some cases much longer (and in a few cases, never).
As a result there are at any moment in Canada thousands of refugees who have only the limited rights that go along with being a “protected person.”
After three years, permanent residents are entitled to apply for Canadian citizenship. A large proportion of permanent residents who come to Canada as refugees apply for citizenship as soon as they can, because having lost one home, they are anxious to establish firm roots in their new home.
Although the law distinguishes between refugees and immigrants, there
are many provisions that apply to both. For example, both refugees
and immigrants are inadmissible to Canada on grounds of criminality, security
risks or danger to public health and safety. Similarly, the rules
about detention or loss of permanent residence apply alike to refugees
and non-refugees. Furthermore, refugees may come to Canada as independent
immigrants or members of the family class. They are not classified
as refugees even though they have had the refugee experience.
| Some statistics for Canada:
Total number of refugees and immigrants to Canada in 2001:
Total number of refugees to Canada in 2001: 27,894 Percentage of refugees to total immigration in 2001: 12.5% Number of refugees resettled to Canada in 2001: 12,263 Number of refugees landed in Canada in 2001: 15, 631
|
Some statistics from around the world
Number of refugees and asylum seekers worldwide: 14,921,000 Number of refugees and asylum seekers in: Iran: 2,558,000 Pakistan: 2,018,000 Jordan: 1,643,900 (Statistics from the US Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2002, as of December 31, 2001) |
For large numbers of refugees, there are no imminent prospects of safe return to their home country and they cannot build a stable life for themselves in the country where they currently are. They may be living in a refugee camp or trying to survive in a country where they have no status and few, if any, rights. They may even be in detention or facing a risk of forced return to persecution. For them, resettlement to a third country represents the only available solution.
About a dozen countries, including Canada, have regular resettlement programs for refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refers to these countries refugees in need of resettlement. In addition, countries may have other ways to identify refugees needing resettlement.
The Canadian resettlement program is composed of two categories:
– Government-assisted refugees, who receive support on their arrival
from the government.
– Privately sponsored refugees, who receive support from private groups.
Refugees can also be jointly sponsored by the government and private sponsors.
Each year the government sets a target (and establishes a budget) for government-assisted refugees. For 2002, the target was set at 7,500. The government also sets an annual range for the number of privately sponsored refugees to be processed. For 2002 the range was set at 2,900 - 4,200.
Private sponsorship groups may be faith communities, ethnic associations, unions or any other group of individuals that decides to help to offer a new home to a refugee family.
To qualify for resettlement in Canada, a refugee must satisfy an immigration officer that they meet the following requirements:
– eligibility: the person must be found to be at risk by meeting one
of the following definitions:
• Convention refugee,
• Country of asylum class (outside the country of origin and
“seriously and personally affected by civil war, armed conflict or massive
violation of human rights”), or
• Source country class (meeting
one of the two preceding categories, but inside the country of origin and
that country is designated by Regulation).
– admissibility: the person must not have committed a crime, represent
a security risk, or pose a danger to public health and safety
– successful establishment: the person must show a capacity to “become
successfully established in Canada.”
– no prospect of another durable solution: the person must have no
reasonable prospect of voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement
to another country.
– financial support: the person must be sponsored by the government
or by a private group, or have enough money to support themselves.
In addition, refugees who are government-assisted or self-supporting must be formally referred by the UNHCR or another organization with which the government has an agreement. As a result, in most parts of the world it is not possible for refugees needing a durable solution to simply apply to a Canadian Embassy for resettlement.
For refugees, as for their sponsors, the process overseas is often painfully long. Many cases take more than two years. And when the decision comes, it sometimes seems unfair. Officers work under pressure and have few resources available to help them make a difficult decision. For refugees who are refused, there is no right of appeal.
In some cases, refugees cannot afford to wait. The Canadian law recognizes this and provides categories for refugees “in urgent need of protection” and for “vulnerable” refugees. The former category is for people who face an immediate threat of being killed, of being subjected to violence, torture, sexual assault or arbitrary imprisonment or of return to their home country. “Vulnerable” refugees are at somewhat lesser risk, but nonetheless face greater risks to their physical safety than other refugees. Refugees who are found to meet these categories receive priority and expedited processing, and do not need to meet the “successful establishment” requirement.
The Canadian resettlement program also recognizes that some refugees may need greater support in resettling than others (for example, a family with many young children, or a survivor of torture or other serious trauma). While some such refugees are denied resettlement to Canada because of the “successful establishment” requirement, others are accepted with the support of a Joint Assistance Sponsorship. In these sponsorships, a private group’s settlement support is combined with financial support from the government.
Most resettled refugees become permanent residents on their arrival in Canada. Refugees in the “urgent” and “vulnerable” categories may well arrive on a temporary permit and need to finalize processing for permanent residence once in Canada.
Government-assisted refugees receive financial assistance from the government for their first year in Canada, or until they are able to support themselves financially (whichever comes first). These refugees usually go first to a reception centre run by a community organization. They will stay a few days at the centre while they recover from jetlag and look for a more permanent place to live. Basic orientation is also offered by the community organization to such things as how to enrol children in school, how to open a bank account and what language classes are available.
Privately sponsored refugees are offered similar orientation by their sponsors. In taking on a sponsorship, a group undertakes to provide financial support for the refugees sponsored, as well as support for the settlement process. Usually the period of the sponsorship is one year, but the government can ask for a sponsorship of two years (or even up to three years).
Private sponsors make a humanitarian commitment of their personal time, energy and money to the direct assistance of an individual or a family in need of resettlement. Groups may decide to sponsor for many reasons, for example because:
• They know about refugees’ protection and resettlement needs;
• They know of someone in need of sponsorship;
• Sponsorship is an expression of their faith;
• The group receives a request from someone in their organization, from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, or from another source.
Sponsorships may be made by:
• Organizations that have a formal agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, known as Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs).
• Groups of five or more individual Canadians.
• Organizations or corporations based in the community where the refugees are expected to settle.
Under the private sponsorship program, a group can identify the refugee or refugee family they wish to sponsor, or they can agree to sponsor a refugee who has already been identified by a visa officer abroad as in need of resettlement. The private sponsorship of refugees program extends Canada's capacity to provide protection to refugees.
As a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Canada has an obligation not to send refugees back to persecution. Canada must therefore determine who is a refugee and who is not. If a mistake is made and a refugee is denied protection and sent back to persecution, Canada is in violation of its international obligations.
Canada also has obligations under the Convention against Torture, which prohibits returning anyone to a substantial risk of torture.
Canada’s refugee protection system excludes some refugee claimants from having their claim heard.
A claim is not eligible if:
– the claimant has ever before made a refugee claim in Canada.
– the claimant has been recognized as a refugee in another country
and can be returned to that country.
– the claimant came to Canada through a designated “safe third country”.
– the claimant has been determined to be inadmissible on the basis
of security, serious criminality, organized criminality or violating human
or international rights.
Many argue that these eligibility criteria put Canada in danger of violating its international obligations.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) receives the claim and decides whether or not it is eligible. In past years, few claimants were found ineligible. However, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act dramatically expanded the grounds for ineligibility, notably by excluding anyone who has ever before made a refugee claim in Canada.
In addition, the Canadian government is, at the time of writing (November 2002), preparing to sign an agreement with the United States that would lead to the US being designated a “safe third country.” As a result, most refugee claimants who pass through the US on their way to Canada would be ineligible to make a claim in Canada. Instead they would be forced to make their claim in the US, even though they may have less chance of receving protection in the US than in Canada.
In most cases, the eligibility determination is required by law to be completed within three working days. However, in practice claimants applying at a CIC office (known as “inland claims”) wait much longer. These delays can cause serious problems for claimants, since access to the minimal services claimants are offered (social assistance, emergency health care coverage, work permit, etc) are tied to the eligibility determination.
Claims that are found to be eligible are referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). This is an independent administrative tribunal. As well as hearing refugee claims, the IRB conducts detention reviews and hears appeals on various immigration matters.
The independence of the IRB is a crucial element in ensuring that Canada’s refugee determination system is fair. Decision-makers need to be independent so that they can resist pressures to decide a certain way. There may, for example, be pressure to reject claimants from countries that are key trading partners of Canada, or to reduce acceptance rates when public opinion is hostile to refugee claimants.
As a specialized tribunal, the IRB is also able to develop the expertise necessary to make the extremely difficult decisions it is charged with. IRB members make life and death decisions about events taking place far away, and about which there is often little evidence beyond the claimant’s testimony, which usually must be interpreted from another language. To help the members, the IRB has invested in its research and documentation capacities, which are among the best available in the world.
The IRB determines whether the claimant is:
– a Convention refugee; or
– a person in need of protection, i.e. a person who, if removed, faces:
• a danger of torture, or
• a risk to their life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment
or punishment (the risk must not be generally faced by others in the country
and must not be caused by inadequate health or medical care).
To help the IRB make its determination, the claimant must fill in a detailed Personal Information Form (PIF) and appear for a hearing before a member of the IRB. In some cases, where the claim is clear and well-documented, a claimant may be accepted without a hearing, in what is known as the “expedited process.”
Given the complexity of the determination and the high stakes for the refugee, it is advisable for refugee claimants to be represented by legal counsel. In some parts of the country, effective legal aid coverage is available. Unfortunately, this is not the case in all parts of the country and claimants, with few resources and little assistance in guiding them in a strange country, are vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous consultants. There is a danger that the situation will get worse, since various provinces currently providing legal aid coverage, are threatening to withdraw services to refugee claimants.
The refugee claim process can be particularly traumatizing for vulnerable persons, such as survivors of torture and children. Sensitivity also needs to be shown to women claimants, who may find it difficult to testify in front of a male IRB member about experiences such as sexual assault. If the system fails to take account of such factors, some of the relevant information about the claim may not be brought forward and a claimant may be wrongly rejected.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides for an appeal from a first-level refugee determination. This responded to a longstanding criticism of the Canadian refugee determination system – one of the few in the Western world to lack an appeal. However, the government implemented the law without the appeal. As a result, refugee claimants now have their fate determined by a single decision maker, without right of appeal. Based on a commitment made by the government, the implementation of the appeal is expected by June 28, 2003.
A claimant who is accepted by the IRB becomes a protected person and can apply for permanent residence.
A claimant who is refused by the IRB, can apply for judicial review to the Federal Court (a much more restricted form of review than an appeal on the merits). Unless a Federal Court application is successful, the refused claimant faces the prospect of removal. Before removal, the claimant may apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA), but may only bring forward information that is new since the hearing at the IRB.
Pre-Removal Risk Assessment
Applications for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) can be made by
claimants who have been heard by the IRB as well as by some claimants who
are found ineligible. The same grounds for protection are assessed
as in the refugee claim (i.e. Convention refugee or person in need of protection).
However, the decision is made not by the IRB but by an official of Citizenship
and Immigration Canada.
In the case of a claimant who has previously been heard by the IRB, the PRRA only considers changes in circumstances since the IRB decision.
In the case of a claimant who is ineligible based on security or criminality, the PRRA cannot lead to refugee protection, but only to a temporary stay of removal.
Critics, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, note that the PRRA rules are extremely complicated and argue that it would be fairer and more efficient to have the decisions made by the IRB.
Although it is newcomers that do most of the hard work of adapting themselves to their new country, integration as a two-way street. This means that the host society has a positive responsibility to adapt itself to its new members and offer them full opportunity to contribute the resources they bring with them. The two-way nature of integration is officially recognized by Canada (although practice often falls behind policy).
Most newcomers, whether they are refugees or immigrants, have basic settlement needs: orientation on arrival, language learning, finding out about access to employment, learning how to enrol children in schools, etc. Refugees also have some more specific needs because of their experience of persecution. For example, a significant percentage of refugees are survivors of torture and have to live with the physical, psychological and emotional consequences of this trauma.
Important sources of information and guidance for newcomers are friends, family, faith communities and Canadians with origins in the same part of the world. In addition, settlement services are funded by the government and offered by community-based organizations. Unfortunately, refugee claimants are generally not eligible for these services, and may find it more difficult to get assistance.
For many refugees, one of the biggest settlement challenges is in being reunited with their family. Refugees are often separated from their families in flight and on arrival in Canada bringing the family back together is a top priority, especially if family members have been left in a life-threatening situation.
The Canadian government has attempted to respond to refugees’ family reunification needs, with some new measures simplifying procedures for newly arrived resettled refugees who are separated from spouse and/or children. However, a major problem continues to be the slow processing overseas. Even after refugees are accepted in Canada, it takes too long for family members to be able to join them (50% of cases of refugee dependants take 12 months or more). This is an area where Canada falls down, compared to other countries that manage to reunite families within a few short months.
Many refugees also find it difficult to accept that Canadian law allows them to be reunited with so few family members. Under the Family Class, parents and grandparents can be sponsored, but only if you have a good income, which most refugees don’t in their first years in Canada. Brothers and sisters are not eligible.
Some refugees can’t even get started on integrating because they are stuck for years without any permanent status in Canada. These “refugees in limbo” include refugees who don’t have the “satisfactory identity document” necessary to get permanent residence. Others are refugees who are caught up in the wide-reaching security net. They are clearly not considered a security threat because they are allowed to remain in Canada, but neither are they allowed to get on with their lives.
Most newcomers to Canada must struggle against the racism that is deeply rooted in Canadian society. It affects their employment prospects, their search for housing, how their contributions are valued and how welcome they feel in their new home.
Similarly, public opinion about refugees and other newcomers has a direct
impact on refugees’ integration. Negative comments by politicians, by the
media or heard in private conversations are deeply hurtful to refugees
and undermine their efforts to integrate into Canadian society.
| “What is integration like?”
Some Somali women answered: • If you come to a country where everyone has only one eye, you have to take out one of your eyes so that you can fit in. Integration is THAT painful. • It feels as though I am getting on to a moving bus. I want to take a seat but I can't reach an empty seat because the bus is travelling too fast. • Time is very important in Canada. In fact I got my first watch here. Time to catch a bus, time for doctor's appointments, time for immigration appointments. I had to learn how to tell time. • People think they know us when they describe what they see of us on
the outside – black skin, Somali, veils. How can they think they
know us when they have no idea what is happening to us inside?
|
• I came to Canada to find peace. I've climbed the ladder of peace and I thought that would be all. I ran from flames but now I'm faced with hidden flames. Integration is like that. • Canada has lots of technology. It's frustrating when you finally reach a person, but he/she behaves like one more machine. • I can't speak English but I can read the expressions on faces. A smiling face is welcome to me but why do you give me a look that hurts so much and says "Go away"? • I came from a place where everyone knows my name, to a place where no one knows me at all. Sometimes I hear people calling my name in the neighbourhood where I live but I find out that it's only the wind. |
For much of the 20th century, Canadian immigration policies were unambiguously racist. Some explicitly excluded certain groups, such as the Head Tax imposed on Chinese immigrants, or the special restrictions imposed on “any immigrant of any Asiatic race.” Other measures were applied in a discriminatory manner to certain groups, but not others, such as the “continuous journey” rule that was used to keep out immigrants from India. Only in the 1960s was explicit racial discrimination brought to an end.
The fact that people were refugees also made them unwelcome. For example, Armenian refugees seeking a new home in the 1920s faced barriers to admission to Canada because they were categorized as “Asiatic” as well as hostility from the immigration department because they had no home country they could be deported to if Canada later wanted to deport them.
In the years in which the Nazi regime was refining and implementing its genocide of the Jews, Canada’s policies were marked by anti-Semitism and its doors were firmly closed on Jews desperately seeking asylum. The Canadian policy was well summed up by the response given in 1945 by an official to the question of how many Jewish refugees Canada would take: “None is too many.”
A few years after the end of the Second World War, Canadian policy took a different turn. 186,154 displaced persons came to Canada between 1947 and 1952. Over the subsequent decades, refugees were admitted by groups in an ad hoc rather than consistent manner.
In 1948, 987 Estonian refugees arrived by boat on the east coast of Canada, becoming perhaps the first refugee claimants. They were detained on arrival and processed through an ad hoc arrangement. Most were accepted.
Groups of Hungarians were admitted in 1956, Czechs in 1968, Tibetans in 1970 and Ugandan Asians in 1973. Refugees from Chile following the 1973 coup d’état were less enthusiastically welcomed by the government, because of political considerations. On the other hand, perhaps 30,000-40,000 US draft dodgers and deserters fleeing the Vietnam war were quietly accepted.
In 1978, the new Immigration Act created the private sponsorship program. The program got off to a flying start with a dramatic popular response to the crisis of the “boatpeople” from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. For the years 1978-81, refugees made up 25% of all immigrants to Canada. Largely because of this effort, the people of Canada were awarded in 1986 the Nansen medal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in “recognition of their major and sustained contribution to the cause of refugees.”
The 1978 Immigration Act also provided for a refugee claim determination system, which was put to use in the 1980s by an increasing number of refugee claimants. In 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered the Singh decision, which recognized that refugee claimants are entitled under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to fundamental justice. The anniversary of the judgment, April 4th, is celebrated each year in Canada as Refugee Rights Day.
In 1989 important changes were made to the law, creating a completely new refugee determination system. It was at this time that the Immigration and Refugee Board was created.
On 28 June 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act came into force, replacing the 1978 Immigration Act. It brought many changes to the processes affecting refugees, the impact of which is still to be seen.
More positively, the new law states that the detention of minors is to be a measure of last resort. It remains to be seen, however, how much this provision will actually benefit children: in the weeks following the implementation of the new law, the number of minors detained actually went up.
Security
For many years Canadian security provisions have unfairly hurt a few
refugees who were caught up in the very wide definition of “security risk”
in Canadian law. The breadth of the definition can be seen in the
fact that all members of the African National Congress, the ruling party
in South Africa, are by default inadmissible to Canada, as members of an
organization that has engaged in terrorism (“terrorism” is not defined).
Since September 11, there is of course a greatly heightened focus on security,
and an unfortunate and unfair association has been made between refugees
and terrorism.
Safe Third Country
Among the measures agreed to by Canada and the US in the wake of the
September 11 attacks was the negotiation of a “safe third country” agreement.
The effect of the agreement is that Canada largely closes its doors on
refugee claimants if they have passed through the United States (and vice
versa, but few claimants pass through Canada en route to the US).
The Canadian Council for Refugees has dubbed this agreement the “None is
Too Many” agreement to underline that its basic objective is to stop refugees
getting to Canada.
The agreement has some exceptions, notably for claimants with family in Canada and for some unaccompanied minors. The government itself, however, acknowledges that the agreement will likely have negative impacts by gender, because the US treats claims based on gender persecution differently. Other reasons why refugees want to claim in Canada rather than in the US include the higher risk of detention, the lack of any legal aid system, the marked discrimination against Muslims and nationals of various Middle Eastern countries and the fact that claimants are denied both social assistance and work permits for the first six months.
The agreement is likely to come into effect in late spring 2003.
Interdiction
The “safe third country” concept is only one of a range of tools used
by states, including Canada, to prevent refugees from successfully making
a refugee claim. Visas are required, documents are checked before
boarding aircraft, immigration control officers are posted overseas and
airlines are fined for bringing refugee claimants to Canada. The
government maintains that these measures are necessary to prevent the arrival
of “improperly documented travellers.” However, the measures also
block refugees fleeing persecution, many of whom are forced to turn to
smugglers to help them get to safety. The more sophisticated the
interdiction measures, the higher the prices charged by smugglers and the
more dangerous the means of travel risked by those desperate to save their
lives. One of the likely effects of the Safe Third Country agreement
is that some refugee claimants, unable to enter Canada at a port of entry,
will attempt to enter Canada irregularly, perhaps at a risk to their
lives.
Thus it was particularly heartening to hear Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien declare in Parliament just after the terrorist attacks: “…We will allow no one to force us to sacrifice our values or traditions under the pressure of urgent circumstances. We will continue to welcome people from the whole world. We will continue to offer refuge to the persecuted. I say again: No one will stop this!”
Canada has a deep-rooted commitment to humanitarian action. This is manifested by support for aid agencies like the UNHCR, by Canada's active refugee resettlement program, and by the inclusive approach taken by the Immigration and Refugee Board when assessing the protection needs of refugee claimants.
But as citizens, we are responsible for holding our governments to their commitments. Do we think enough resources are allocated to humanitarian action? Don't visa regimes, overseas interception, and safe third country arrangements make it hard for people in need of protection to reach safety? Should more refugees to be selected overseas for resettlement?
Just before September 11th, the New York Times summed up the attitude of some western countries toward refugees with the headline "Someone has to help. But not me." Unfortunately, war and persecution are still endemic in the 21st century. One out of every 162 persons in the world is a refugee, or has been forcibly displaced within the borders of her own country. Ignoring the problem and building higher barriers won't help. Concerted action is needed to resolve conflicts, promote human rights and development, and keep borders open for persons in need of protection. Canada – and Canadians – have an important role to play.
Bill Frelick, director, refugee program, Amnesty International
USA
Canada, the only country to be awarded the Nansen Medal, the highest
honor bestowed for protecting refugees, is deservedly regarded as one of
the world’s true havens for the persecuted. Canada was among the
earliest states to recognize gender-based persecution as a ground for establishing
refugee status. It is among the most generous countries in its willingness
to resettle refugees identified abroad as being in need of protection or
lacking durable solutions. Its asylum system is noted for its fairness
and efficiency.
Although Canada and the United States formally subscribe to the same standard in defining who is a refugee, and both formally have comparable, though not identical, adjudicatory systems, what sets the two apart is that Canada creates a welcoming environment for the asylum seeker to enable him or her to lodge and pursue a claim. Unlike the United States, which prohibits asylum seekers from working for the first six months after applying for asylum and also denies them any government-supported legal representation, Canada does allow asylum seekers to work, and also provides those in need some level of government funding to allow them legal services. The contrast between an unrepresented asylum seeker who is forced into complete destitution or to work illegally and a person who has the dignity of work and legal representation couldn’t be greater. It reflects the values of the respective societies, and should make Canadians rightly proud.
Contributions to Refugee Aid Agencies
In 2001, Canada contributed US$32.9 million in financial assistance
to UNHCR, IOM and UNRWA. This represents $1.06 per capita.
Canada ranked 11th in the world in dollars contributed and also in dollars
per capita.
Ratio of Refugees to Host-Country Populations
On December 31, 2001, Canada hosted 1 refugee for every 443 people
in the total population.
Ratios in some other countries:
Jordan: 1:3
Lebanon: 1:11
Iran: 1:26
Congo-Brazzaville: 1:30
Tanzania: 1:73
Saudi Arabia: 1:168
(Statistics from the US Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2002)
United Nations Committees
As a party to various international treaties, Canada is regularly examined
by UN committees on its compliance with its human rights obligations.
Canada’s achievements are usually saluted by these committees, but attention
is also drawn to areas in which Canada does not meet its obligations towards
refugees. For example, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
said in 1995:
The Committee recognizes the efforts made by Canada for many years in accepting a large number of refugees and immigrants. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets that the principles of non-discrimination, of the best interests of the child and of the respect for the views of the child have not always been given adequate weight by administrative bodies dealing with the situation of refugees’ or immigrants’ children.
The NGO sector serving refugees in Canada is mostly made up of local community-based organizations. Many were created by immigrant and refugee communities, organizing to help themselves. Some NGOs owe their origins to a faith-based response to the call to welcome the stranger and overcome injustice. Some organizations were formed to address the needs of particularly vulnerable refugees, such as survivors of torture. Many serve refugees as part of a wider community response (e.g. a women's centre that serves refugee as well as non-refugee women).
Among the activities of refugee-serving NGOs are:
• providing shelter to newly arrived refugee claimants
• assisting refugee claimants in securing refugee protection in Canada
• sponsoring refugees from abroad
• visiting refugees in detention
• offering information and referrals
• assisting refugees in finding housing, employment, schools for children,
etc.
• educating the public about refugees
• helping refugees and Canadians to get to know each other
• providing language training for refugees
• informing the government about the impact of their policies and practices
on refugees
• working with Canadian institutions to sensitize them to the realities
of refugees
• supporting refugees in their efforts to organize themselves and participate
fully in Canadian life
• advocating for policies that protect and welcome refugees
Most NGOs struggle with inadequate and insecure funding, and receive little recognition for their work. But, despite scarce resources, they achieve an enormous amount, due to the dedication and creativity of staff and volunteers.
Canadian Council for Refugees
Created twenty-five years ago, the CCR offers a space for NGOs concerned
for refugees to work together. Two national consultations are held
each year, enabling members to network together and meet with others, including
government officials, representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
and visitors from other countries.
At each consultation the members vote on resolutions, which form the CCR’s policy base. In the past ten years, more than 425 resolutions have been adopted, reflecting the wide range of concerns of members. The CCR’s advocacy agenda is long.
The CCR’s main areas of concern are:
• overseas protection and sponsorship (includes issues relating to refugee resettlement and the protection needs of refugees around the world)
• inland protection (includes the refugee determination system in Canada and the rights of refugee claimants)
• immigration and settlement (includes the services offered to newcomers and promotion of newcomer integration)
The CCR also recognizes the need to give particular attention to gender issues and anti-racism in all areas of its work.
To fulfill its mandate, the CCR gives priority to:
• promoting member participation, and in particular the participation
of refugees
• networking and information-exchange
• dialogue with the government
• educating the public, including through the media
• building links with NGOs in other countries
• advocating for the full respect of the human rights of refugees and
immigrants
| My experience in Canada has made me strongly believe that the life
of any refugee in Canada, including my own, is only possible because of
the long and active life of the CCR in particular and Canadian civil society
in general, and because of their efforts to defend the rights of refugees.
Francisco Rico-Martinez, Past President of the CCR, first CCR president who has had the experience of being a refugee. |
Canadian Council for Refugees
6839 Drolet #302
Montréal, Québec, H2S 2T1
tel: (514) 277-7223
fax: (514) 277-1447
email: ccr@web.ca
http://www.web.ca/~ccr
This document was produced in November 2002. For more copies,
please contact the CCR office.
Footnotes:
Source countries
Persons in need of protection who are still in their home country can
only be resettled if their country is on a list created by Regulation.
The source countries currently are:
• Colombia
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Sierra Leone
• Sudan
Changes to the list may be made in mid-2003.
Numbers of refugees resettled to Canada
The following are the numbers of government assisted refugees (GARs)
and privately sponsored refugees (PSR) resettled to Canada since 1989:
| Year | GAR | PSR |
| 1989 | 13,808 | 21,631 |
| 1990 | 12,563 | 19,307 |
| 1991 | 7,429 | 17,433 |
| 1992 | 6,126 | 8,960 |
| 1993 | 6,794 | 4,768 |
| 1994 | 7,585 | 2,822 |
| 1995 | 7,798 | 3,121 |
| 1996 | 7,846 | 3,073 |
| 1997 | 7,712 | 2,658 |
| 1998 | 7,382 | 2,140 |
| 1999 | 7,445 | 2,332 |
| 2000 | 7,367 | 2,905 |
| 2001 | 8,693 | 3,570 |
In 2001:
• 211 refugees arrived under the Urgent Protection Program
• 396 refugees arrived under the Women at Risk program
• 48% of government-assisted refugees were women or girls
• 48% of privately sponsored refugees were women or girls
Numbers of refugee claims made in Canada
2001 - 44 726
2000 - 37 862
1999 - 30 900
1998 - 25 395
1997 - 24 332
1996 - 25 743
1995 - 25 945
1994 - 22 060
1993 - 21 193
1992 - 37 726
Of the claims made, 40% were made on average by women or girls.
In 2001, of 28,418 refugee claims finalized by the Immigration and Refugee Board, 13,383 (47%) were found to be refugees.
In 2002, 1 Jan. - 15 September, 22,143 claims were made. Of these,
35% (7,813) were made at the US-Canada border (and would therefore have
been subject to safe third country rules if they had been in place).
Detention statistics
Over the past year (Nov. 2001 - Oct. 2002), there has been on average
on any day:
• 439 people detained under immigration legislation.
• Of whom, 286 are in provincial jails, 153 in immigration detention centres.
• 12 minors detained, of whom 2 are unaccompanied minors.