| A national organization that promotes social justice is calling on the federal government to allow more refugees into the country, and to make it easier for them to integrate once they’re here.
Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) is holding a conference in Calgary about refugee issues on April 22 from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Scarboro United Church.
Harry Kits, executive director of CPJ, says there’s currently too much emphasis placed on national security instead of the human rights of refugee claimants. He says Canada should be opening its doors to more refugees rather than making it more difficult for them to arrive.
He points to the Safe Third Country Agreement, which Canada and the U.S signed in December 2002, that only allows a refugee claimant to apply for refugee status in the country he or she lands in. They are not allowed to travel through one country to apply for refugee status in the other. Kits says this has been reducing the number of refugee claimants in Canada because it’s often easier and cheaper for them to travel to the U.S. first and then to travel to Canada from there.
"The number of refugees actually being accepted in Canada is dropping from previous years where we made our good name during the period of the Vietnamese boat people for example. We’re saying numbers should be increased," says Kits. "(Refugees) are sort of an afterthought in the whole immigration discussion. We think there should be more attention paid to them."
Lorraine Lavalee, spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, says refugee numbers fluctuate depending on the global political situation.
"There’s all kinds of situations that will make the numbers shrink and swell so there may be a time period where you’ll see numbers are elevated and then they’ll go down. There’s a lot of reasons why it could be happening," she says.
Another concern CPJ has is the length of time it takes for a person who comes to Canada and applies for refugee status to then get permanent resident status. People processed overseas and accepted as refugees automatically get permanent resident status when they arrive in the country. CPJ would like to see the government treat refugees who apply for status in Canada treated in the same way. He says refugee claimants have to go through a vigorous process in order to be accepted as refugees, and that should be enough for them to also receive permanent resident status. Without a permanent resident card, refugees can’t apply to sponsor family members to come to Canada and they aren’t allowed to return to Canada if they travel outside the country.
Hadassah Ksienski, CEO of the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society, says CIC needs to speed up the processing of applications for refugee and permanent resident status because currently "peoples’ lives are on hold."
She says it’s especially important for refugees to be able to sponsor family members as soon as possible.
"Family reunification is absolutely crucial for resettlement of refugees," she says.
Lavalee says currently "demand is really outstripping the ability to process people" but she says the federal government is committing to improving the system. She adds that the amount of time it takes to get refugee or permanent resident status depends on a variety of factors. She says some refugees fleeing their countries no longer have any identification and the government has to find a way to prove their identity before they can get refugee and permanent resident status.
The amount of time it takes for a community or church group to sponsor a refugee is also a concern of CPJ.
"The overseas sponsorship program is really, really slow. In fact, community groups and churches are really frustrated because they’ve made a commitment to do something and they have to wait up to four years for a sponsor to get here," he explains.
Kits says once refugees arrive in the country, they often struggle financially, and federal and provincial governments need to take more action to ensure refugees have "livable incomes."
Ksienski says finding affordable housing can be a real struggle for Calgary refugee families and she says there has to be more money put into resettlement programs including language training, which she says has only "limited capacity" in the city.
For more information on the CPJ conference go to http://cpj.ca. |
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