an overview of refugee policies canadian council for refugees

An overview of refugee policies

Canadian Council for Refugees

Canadian Council for Refugees 2

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.


The SS St. Louis Left Germany on May 13, 1939 with over

937 Jewish refugees onboard Each refugee carried valid papers to enter

Cuba When the ship arrived, the Cuban

government declared the papers invalid The U.S. refused entry as well Canada was the last hope for these refugees


The SS St. Louis Canada also refused entry to the Ss St.

Louis With declining food supplies, the ship had

no choice but to return to Europe with all of its passengers

While some were able to negotiate ways into other ports (Great Britain, Belgium, etc.) these refugees were sent East when the war broke out and the countries began to send troops.


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.


According to the Geneva convention…A refugee is a person who experiences a

well-founded fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality; or because he or she belongs to a certain social group; or because of his or her political opinion and is outside of the country of his or her origin and owing to such fear is unwilling to return to country of his or her origin.”


ASYLUMAsylum is the protection offered tosomeone fleeing persecution in anothercountry. An asylum-seeker is a person who hascrossed an international border and appliesfor protection as a refugee in anothercountry


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 the 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.


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 created to hear refugee claims.

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


The Global Refugee ProblemRising numbers:1970s – 3 million refugees1980s – 8 million refugees1995 – 27 million refugees2005 – 22 million + 30 million internally

displaced persons

1 out of every 280 people is a refugee


Where are refugees today?

Asia 45.3%

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

Statistics from UNHCR Statistical Yearbook


Global cooling toward refugees

Many states in the industrialized world arebecoming less welcoming to refugees by:

making it harder for refugees to reach their territory

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.

Making it hard for refugees…


Making it hard for refugees…

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


Issues for Canada: Sponsored refugees wait

for yearsAs of 2009, more than 12,000 refugeesoverseas are waiting for a decision:

Refugees sponsored in 2009 may not even be interviewed until 2013.

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.


Temporary Refugee Protection Limited length of stay in a nation Limited working hours Limited access to the country’s social and

cultural services


Refugee Case Studies


Written ResponseIn your opinion, what should a country’s

policy regarding refugees look like? What factors would you consider to be most important when determining who would be allowed entry and who would not be? Would you look at those at your border differently than those waiting at displaced persons camps or temporary refugee camps? Would you favour temporary asylum or permanent migration?


OPTIONS FOR REFUGEES1. Voluntary Repatriation2. Local Integration3. Third-Country Resettlement

But what do they do while they wait….


Experiencing a displaced persons/refugee camp

an overview of refugee policies canadian council for refugees

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