an overview of canada’s refugee policy canadian council for refugees march 2005

An overview of Canada’s refugee

policy

Canadian Council for Refugees

March 2005

Canadian Council for Refugees 2

Refugees are part of Canada

From 1995 to 2004 Canada welcomed more than 2.1 million immigrants.

This included 265,685 (12% of the whole) refugees granted permanent residence.

How much do you know about Canada’s record towards refugees?


Canada’s early record

Refugee protection was not part of Canadian law until 1978.

Early immigration policy discriminated by race: British and northern Europeans were

encouraged to immigrate whereas...


Canada’s early record

Chinese immigrants had to pay a Head Tax (increased to $500 in 1903);

Asians and others deemed undesirable were excluded by the "continuous passage" policy, and; Immigration Department used its discretion to discourage Black immigrants.


Komagatu Maru

South Asians cameto Vancouver on theship the KomagatuMaru in 1914 to testthe "continuousjourney” policy. They were refusedentry.

Vancouver Public Libraryphoto no.6231


Discrimination against Jews

In the 1930s and 40s thousands of European Jews tried to flee Nazi Germany.

Motivated by anti-semitism, the Canadian government used its discretion to exclude Jews.


Discrimination against Jews

1938: Canadian citizens tried, unsuccessfully, to change this policy. They did manage to get the Government to admit some non-Jews, including the Canadian Czech shoe industrialist Thomas Bata (of the Bata Shoe Museum) and 82 of his workers.


International treaty to recognize refugees

1951: The Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees defined who was a refugee and their right to legal protection and assistance from those states who signed.


Definition in 1951 Refugee Convention a refugee is any person who:

" …owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his (sic) nationality and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…"


1951 Refugee Convention

'51 Convention was limited to protecting the approximately 50 million European refugees after World War II


Addition to 1951 Convention

1967: Additional protocol expanded geographical scope of the Convention as problem of displacement around the world was recognized.

'51 Convention refugee definition still applies today. States interpret it to include – or restrict – certain categories of people. For example, Canada recognizes women and gays fleeing gender persecution as "members of a particular social group."


Canada and '51 Refugee Convention

Canada didn’t sign '51 Convention (and protocol) until 1969. (The RCMP advised against it based on fears it would restrict Canada’s ability to deport refugees for security reasons.)

Before 1969, refugees were selected overseas and admitted to Canada by group, e.g: 1956 - over 37,000 Hungarians 1968 - nearly 11,000 Czech refugees 1973 - more than 7,000 Asian Ugandans 1975 - nearly 1,200 Chileans


Cold War " enemies " Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s,

Canada readily granted refuge to people fleeing communist regimes.

There were two designated classes, East European Self-Exiled Persons and Indochinese Designated Class, for such people.


1978 New Canadian Immigration Act

1978 was first time an Immigration Act included a humanitarian category for refugees needing protection and resettlement.

It also established the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program which allowed Canadians to be involved in the resettlement of refugees.


Canadians sponsor refugees

1979: Canadians enthusiastically applied to sponsor Boat People under new private sponsorship program.

1986: UN awarded the Nansen medal to the Canadian people in "recognition of their major and sustained contribution to the cause of refugees".


Canadian Charter applies to

refugee claimants (1)April 4, 1985:Supreme Courtrules theCanadian Charter ofRights and Freedomsprotects the basicrights and freedomsof refugee claimantsin Canada.


Canadian Charter applies to

refugee claimants (2)

• Refugee determination must respect the principles of fundamental justice.

• Fundamental justice requires that, where credibility is an issue, refugee claimants must have an oral hearing.


Singh Decision 1985 Known as the Singh decision, this Supreme

Court decision declared that refugee claimants are entitled to basic standards of rights protection.

1988 Immigration and Refugee Board to created to hear refugee claims.

April 4, date of Singh decision, is annually commemorated by Canadian refugee supporters as “Refugee Rights Day”.


Where are refugees today?

Asia 45.3%

Africa22.2%Europe21.9%Americas10.2%Oceania0.4%

Statistics from UNHCR 2002 Statistical Yearbook, published July 2004.


Global cooling toward refugees

Today refugees still need protection, butmany states in the industrialized world arebecoming less welcoming to refugees by:

making it harder for refugees to reach their territory and,

enacting measures that make it less likely that those who arrive get a fair hearing.


• Officials are stationed at airports to stop anyone, including refugees, without proper documentation from embarking planes for Western countries.

• U.S. intercepts and detains Cuban and Haitian asylum-seekers trying to reach it by boat, and mandatorily detains certain categories of asylum-seekers who arrive in the U.S.

Interdiction of refugees (1)


Interdiction of refugees (2)

2001 AustralianGovernment turned back Iraqi and Afghanasylum-seekers trying toreach its shores and later tried to discreditthem by accusing them of throwing their children overboard.

www.truthoverboard.com


Canada seen as leader in refugee protection

Relative to other countries, Canadahas earned a reputation as a leader

with some POSITIVE ELEMENTS: a) an independent expert tribunal,

with excellent documentation, b) gender guidelinesc) until recently, minimal detention of refugee claimants d) an active resettlement program.


Canada’s leadership is relative

However, Canada ’s system has serious shortcomings: Stopping refugee claimants from reaching

Canada. Refusing to provide appeal. Delays in processing applications of sponsored

refugees. Slow processing of refugees’ spouses and childen

to join them in Canada. Not challenging anti-refugee discourse.


Issues for Canada:Safe Third Country

Agreement (1)December 2004 Canadian Governmentdesignated the US a “safe thirdcountry”, closing the land border to most refugee claimants.

Only a few exceptions apply (e.g. ifone has family with status in Canada)



Agreement (2)But the U.S. is not safe for refugees because:

• 1000’s of refugee claimants, including children, are detained in the U.S., some for years.

• U.S. fails to protect refugees due to narrow interpretation of refugee Convention and rules such as one-year bar to claiming.



Agreement (3)• U.S. discriminates by detaining Haitians based on nationality; people from Muslim countries are at high risk of detention.

• 2002 U.S. deportation of Canadian citizen Maher Arar to Syria demonstrates their low regard for human rights of some non-U.S. citizens.


Issues for Canada: Canada refuses to implement appeal

Many refugees are recognized in Canada, but some are mistakenly denied:

No appeal on merits. The Inter-American Commission on Human

Rights has urged Canada to provide appeal.

2002 Canadian Parliament adopted law that created Refugee Appeal Division but Government has refused to implement it.


Issues for Canada: Sponsored refugees wait

for yearsAs of 2005, more than 12,000 refugeesoverseas are waiting for a decision:

Refugees sponsored in 2005 may not even be interviewed until 2008.

Private sponsors in Canada lose hope.


Issues for Canada: Families wait to be

reunitedSome refugees in Canada wait years fortheir spouses/children to be allowed to join them:

Barriers in processing (e.g. DNA testing) and scarce resources in Canadian visa posts cause delays.

Lives of family members overseas can be at risk.


Issues for Canada:Anti-refugee discourse

Some Canadian media and experts carrysimplistic messages that dangerously presentone group of refugees as more deserving thananother:

Refugees in camps are presented as "good" refugees who wait patiently overseas.

Refugees who come to Canada to claim refugee status are presented as "bad",

accused of jumping an imaginary queue.


What is wrong with this message?

It allows governments to manipulate public opinon by scapegoating refugee claimants (e.g. in 2001 the Australian Government used anti-refugee rhetoric to win the election).

It violates international law which obliges states (including Canada) to respect the right to flee persecution to seek refuge.

It creates hate and fear toward a vulnerable group of people.


Future challenges

What doYOU think

they are?

an overview of canada’s refugee policy canadian council for refugees march 2005

Documents

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convention refugee definition

european refugees

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