From: "Amy Casipullai" <[log in to unmask]>
Toronto- St. Lawrence Centre Forum
What: Free Public Forum about
CANADA'S REFUGEE SYSTEM: NO SIMPLE MATTER
When: Thursday February 19, 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Where: St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St E.
What can you expect:
s free admission to the comfortable 500 seat theatre hall
s audience participation and informed speakers:
Jean-Guy Fleury: Chair, Immigration and Refugee Board.
Stephen Gallagher: Professor Concordia University; author of Canada's
Dysfunctional Refugee System published by the Fraser Institute.
Avvy Go: Director, Metro Toronto Chinese and South East Asian Legal
Clinic.
Francisco Rico-Martinez: Co-Director, FCJ Hamilton House Refugee
Project; former President, Canadian Council for Refugees.
Moderator: Arvinder Sahota; host of the South Asian show on CHIN
International
The Context:
First there were the reforms of the Immigration and Refugee Protection
Act (IRPA) in 2002, the result of an extensive 5-year process that the
Government said would speed up a process that takes claimants a
minimum of 2 years and sometimes longer to negotiate. Then when 9/11
came along, there were false allegations of terrorists entering the
U.S. via Canada and our refugee determination system was under the
microscope again. This year, a new Border Services Agency reporting
directly to the new Minister of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness was established
As part of a larger package of border security issues, Canada
succeeded in negotiating a highly controversial "safe third party
country" agreement with the U.S. This agreement allows Canada to
turn back a class of claimants at the border to the "first safe
country" of entry, i.e. the U.S. The Canadian Council for Refugees has
said that the US is not a safe country for refugees. Others claim it
violates the "right" of people to choose where to live (more airlines
fly into the U.S. than Canada), creates undue stress on claimants
seeking reunification with family in Canada, will lead to an increase
in people smuggling, endanger lives and increase the burden on the
system without any real net benefit.
The massive backlog of claimants is a problem admitted by all, lack of
or poorly targeted resources depending on who you listen to, reliance
on the courts rather than a Refugee Appeals Division as the first
resort of appeal are all problems to be solved.
- Can our refugee system be considered in isolation from our
immigration system? - Is people-smuggling and bogus refugee claims
big problems for Canada?
- There are millions of displaced peoples in the world languishing in
camps. Does Canada's refugee determination system serve the most
vulnerable? Is Canada proactive in seeking to protect refugees with no
resources, those largely immobile and burdened with responsibilities
for children and the elderly?
- Is Canada to be applauded for having a generous refugee reception
and determination policy or are we allowing too many refugees
including economic migrants an easy in at the expense of other
international aid programmes?
- With growing violence and conflict and increasing destabilization
caused by economic globalization, are there pressures to broaden the
definition of refugee and extend the umbrella of protection? In 2002,
Canada rejected 60% of refugee claimants, many for seeking to better
their economic situation. While this number may seem high it is the
lowest rejection rate among all developed countries.
Sponsored by the St. Lawrence Centre FORUM, Ontario Council of
Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), and CHIN international Toronto FM
100.7 Ottawa 97.9 FM.
- 30 -
-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SIGNOFF SDOH
For a list of SDOH members, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
REV SDOH
To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST
To view the SDOH archives, go to: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html
|
