‘Extraordinary initiative’: Canada’s private refugee sponsorship system exported as model for the world 

2016/12/17 Leave a comment

While I am always cautious in exporting any Canadian “model,” as local conditions, history, geographies and identities vary, nevertheless good to share our experience and lessons learned with others (and likewise, learn from them):

The world could make strides in resolving the global refugee crisis by adopting Canada’s private sponsorship model, says Immigration Minister John McCallum.

Speaking at a news conference to officially launch the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative, which will train and advise other countries on how to establish programs that allow private individuals and groups to finance, facilitate and support refugees coming to the country, McCallum urged other countries to do more.

“I think one aspect of this crisis today is that there are not enough countries receiving enough refugees to solve the problem, to put it mildly,” he said. “So I do believe this initiative, which is essentially to export to interested countries in the rest of the world our privately sponsored refugees [program], could make a significant impact on the refugee crisis.”

Participants from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. are in Ottawa for a three-day session on how Canada’s program could be replicated in their own countries. About 90 international delegates are attending.

Canada is dedicating six staff to spearhead the initiative to get the greatest “buy in” from other countries.

McCallum said the world is seeing the worst refugee crisis in decades, and a growing number of countries are keen to embrace Canada’s project as a way to help. Engaging citizens will boost public support for newcomers, and help refugees integrate with greater ease and success.

According to the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the private refugee sponsorship program has helped resettle more than 288,000 refugees since the late 1970s.

More than 13,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Canada through private sponsorship since November 2015.

1.2 million refugees in life-threatening situations

In March, Canada’s government-assisted and private sponsorship of refugees was hailed as a model for the world by Filippo Grandi, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the agency’s representative in Canada, said today there are now 1.2 million refugees who are in life-threatening situations. He urged other countries to follow Canada’s lead to encourage private sponsors to complement government-assisted programs.

Gregory Maniatis, an international resettlement expert with Open Society Foundations, called Canada’s program an extraordinary initiative.

While there are many obstacles, including many governments around the world, he said there is a groundswell of grassroots support from citizens.

“If you look at what’s happening on the ground, amongst citizens….we think and we have seen, a tremendous desire to help,” he said.

McCallum said while Canada is a very welcoming country compared to others, it is not universally so. He said to stem potential resentment, the government is always careful to ensure refugees are not seen to be treated better than other Canadians when it comes to social housing, health or other benefits.

“We have to ensure that the way we behave is fair. Fair to refugees, but also to Canadians,” he said.

The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative is led by the federal government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the University of Ottawa, the Radcliffe Foundation and the Open Society Foundations

Source: ‘Extraordinary initiative’: Canada’s private refugee sponsorship system exported as model for the world – Politics – CBC News

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‘Frustrating’ backlog of refugee applications will likely get longer as federal targets drop

2016/12/10 Leave a comment

Not terribly surprising, both the year-to-(exceptional)-year decline and the resulting frustration:

Spurred on by this year’s fast-tracking of displaced Syrians, nearly 30,000 more people are in line to come to Canada as refugees — but they may be in for a wait as the total number of refugees to be resettled in the coming year is much lower than this year’s target.

According to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada there are 4,264 Syrians with approved applications who are waiting to fly to Canada.

Another 25,756 applications are pending final processing.

Chris Friesen, director of settlement services with the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. (ISSBC) calls the 2016 push to resettle tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by a bloody conflict a “bold humanitarian mission.”

“It captured the world’s attention, and, of course, captured Syrian’s interest in the region.”

But with reduced numbers for the refugees to be resettled next year, and the large inventory of applications already being processed by Canada’s immigration offices, Syrian families hoping to come here could be waiting for years.

“It’s something that we need to look at — there is a lot of pent up interest,” Friesen says. Based on current processing times and the already-existing backlog, Friesen says “it could take the government three years to address the private sponsorship applications on file.”

The federal government says 2017 numbers will be lower compared to what it calls the “extraordinary target” in 2016. In 2016, the target for refugees and protected persons was 55,800. In 2017, that number drops to 40,000. But that is for all refugees from across the world, not only from Syria.

As telling, the target number of government assisted refugees (GARS) drops to 7,500 next year, from more than 18,000 over the last 12 months.

….Some patterns emerged when ISSBC surveyed 300 Syrian households who arrived in B.C.

Roughly 17 per cent of the people surveyed say they have found part-time or full-time work. English classes have been popular, with 75 per cent of the respondents saying they had signed up.

Fifteen per cent of the people surveyed reflect symptoms of untreated trauma, ISSBC says.

And three quarters of the newly arrived refugees have family members left in the Middle East who want to come to Canada.

Canada’s immigration department said it’s in the process of finalizing a broad report called “Rapid Impact Evaluation” that will look at how the 26,000 refugees who came by March 2016 are adjusting in Canada but the department would not yet reveal its findings.

Source: ‘Frustrating’ backlog of refugee applications will likely get longer as federal targets drop – Canada – CBC News

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‘We can’t abandon them’: Senators urge more language, mental health supports for Syrian refugees

2016/12/09 Leave a comment

Sensible set of recommendations:

One year after the first wave of Syrian refugees arrived in Canada, the Senate’s committee on human rights is urging the federal government to boost language training, mental health services and financial supports to ease the next phase of the resettlement process.

Releasing a report called “Finding Refuge in Canada: A Syrian Resettlement Story,” committee chair Jim Munson said while the program has been a Canadian success story, the government and citizens must not be complacent.

“We can’t abandon them. We can’t let indifference set in. We need to do more to help them in their next resettlement steps,” he said during a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday.

The report recommends:

  • The minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship set and meet specific standards for processing times.

  • Improving the flow of information to refugees on the status of applications.

  • Connecting refugees with networks of supportive individuals in their communities.

  • Ensuring the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) maintain timely processing for disbursement of the Canada Child Benefit.

  • Replacing immigration loans for transportation expenses with a grant.

  • Increasing funds for language training, and providing accompanying child care to improve access for women.

  • Working with provinces, territories and community groups to enhance programming for youth.

  • Improving culturally appropriate mental health programs.

  • Identifying possible changes to facilitate timely family reunification.

Source: ‘We can’t abandon them’: Senators urge more language, mental health supports for Syrian refugees – Politics – CBC News

And The Globe has a good profile of how some schools are integrating Syrian refugee kids:

 Finding sanctuary: Why education is challenging but crucial for Syrian refugees 

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Syrian exodus to Canada: One year later, a look at who the refugees are and where they went

2016/12/03 Leave a comment

Really good analysis and charts in the Globe regarding Syrian refugees (sample below):

Across the country, Syrians have arrived in new neighbourhoods and schools and, as with so many waves of immigrants before them, both the refugees and the communities that receive them will be changed by the experience. As Canada marks the first year of this initiative, we take a closer look at Syrian refugees through the demographic data.

syrian_exodus_to_canada__one_year_later__a_look_at_who_the_refugees_are_and_where_they-went_-_the_globe_and_mailOther charts highlight family size (larger than expected), education (most high school or less), aged (most under 18), knowledge of an official language (about 40 percent, mainly English).

Source: Syrian exodus to Canada: One year later, a look at who the refugees are and where they went – The Globe and Mail

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As demographics change, food banks struggle to meet users’ tastes

2016/11/16 Leave a comment

Interesting – another aspect of our diverse society:

As food banks across Canada struggle to meet an ever-increasing need – up 28 per cent from eight years ago, according to a new report from Food Banks Canada – they also struggle to meet the demands of a user base that is changing demographically, and requesting different and healthier foods.

According to Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount report, 13 per cent of people who used food banks in the past year were immigrants or refugees. As in the case of the Mississauga Muslim Community Centre, many of them were part of the wave of refugees from Syria who settled in Canada in the past year.

These families do receive government support – about $2,500 each month for a family of four, according to Mr. Syed. But in urban areas where housing costs are especially high, such as Toronto, Vancouver and their respective suburbs, much of that winds up going toward rent. The Surrey Food Bank, about an hour outside of Vancouver, saw a 17-per-cent increase in use last year due in large part to Syrian refugees. And the food bank Mr. Syed runs was created in February specifically to address Syrian refugees, who make up about 95 per cent of the user base.

Still, the food Mr. Syed receives from organizations such as the Mississauga Food Bank, which distributes food through dozens of food banks and meal programs across the city, often does not reflect this changing need.

“People have in their heads what they want to donate,” said Jon Davey, the manager of food programs and distribution for the Mississauga Food Bank. The organization receives food not only from members of the public, but also from corporate donors. For Food Banks Canada, which supports a network of over 500 food banks across the country, its major supporters include companies such as Campbell’s, General Mills, PepsiCo and Mondelez International.

“We can ask for rice and lentils and tuna until we’re blue in the face – it works to a degree,” Mr. Davey said. “But pasta, soup and snacks are three things that are constantly filling up.”

Ethnicity and culture are not the only types of change that food banks face. Increasingly, Mr. Davey said, food banks such as his are dealing with the effects of an aging population, as well as an increase in young people receiving food assistance. More and more universities and colleges have begun offering food-bank services on their campuses.

Another major shift Mr. Davey said he’s seen is an increased demand for healthier, fresher options – mirroring the concerns of the general public about healthier eating.

Over the past year, he said the organization has worked with dietitians to better track its food supply to ensure items cover all four food groups.

He also said that he regularly refuses large quantities of unhealthy donations from both private and corporate donors. Others have done the same. An Ottawa food bank made headlines in 2014 after refusing to accept donations of items such as Kraft Dinner and Dunkaroos. That announcement sparked some criticism, with some questioning whether the Ottawa organization was being overly picky.

Mr. Davey acknowledged these concerns, but emphasized the difficult position his organization and others like it are in. “I’m not trying to disparage the donations we get, because we’re extremely happy people think about us at all,” he said.

Still, he added, “just because people are lower income and need to use the services doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to eat healthy, and doesn’t mean they don’t want to eat healthy.”

Source: As demographics change, food banks struggle to meet users’ tastes – The Globe and Mail

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‘International leadership:’ MPs chart new course by bringing Yazidi genocide survivors to Canada

2016/11/16 Leave a comment

Not to be underestimated:

With less than four months to move as many several thousand Yazidis to Canada from conflict zones and refugee camps, MPs will learn from officials this week about the complex security and operational hurdles ahead.

Last month, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a Conservative motion to provide assistance and asylum to survivors of ISIS genocide, mainly from within the Yazidi ethnic minority group. Now, the government must develop a quick action plan that steps outside the traditional United Nations process.

The Yazidi genocide survivors are currently trapped in high-conflict areas in Northern Iraq or waiting in refugee camps in Syria, Greece and Turkey.

On Thursday, MPs on the citizenship and immigration committee will hear about the biggest challenges, first from Canadian officials who were dispatched to northern Iraq on a fact-finding mission, then from German officials about their own experience helping to rescue Yazidi refugees.

Liberal MP and committee chair Borys Wrzesnewskyj said Canada could chart a new process for the world by helping the most vulnerable victims of atrocities outside the UN regime.

Calling this a “new reality,” he said Canada must not wring its hands in the face of horrors, but rather adapt and act with moral authority.

‘International leadership’

“There’s clearly a lack in the established frameworks, and perhaps this is a role Canada can take on internationally and lead in,” Wrzesnewskyj told CBC News. “The fact we’re taking in a number of genocide survivors — women and girls who have gone through unimaginable horrors — we’re taking international leadership by doing this.”

Despite the tremendous challenges, he hopes the committee can provide parliamentary oversight to Canada’s process, and even provide a template for other countries to follow.

“There is almost a personal element to this, and we want to make sure we do this in a way that Canadians can point to with pride and say, ‘We made a difference for these genocide survivors,'” he said.

Yazidis are one of the oldest religious and ethnic minorities in the world with a 6,000-year-old culture, based mainly in northern Iraq.

Source: ‘International leadership:’ MPs chart new course by bringing Yazidi genocide survivors to Canada – Politics – CBC News

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Farzana Hassan: It’s unjust to revoke the citizenship of refugees’ children

2016/10/15 Leave a comment

Good piece by Farzana Hassan on the streamlined revocation process, without right to a hearing or equivalent procedural protections. Welcome contrast to much of the other commentary in the Sun:

Monsef’s mother filed an application stating her children were born in Afghanistan, but it turns out the MP was born just across the border in Iran, during her mother’s several crossings to avoid persecution and harassment from the Taliban.

Did her mother lie about this? No one can be sure. Language could have been a barrier, or she may have been too distraught. After all, they were faced with the constant threat of harassment, even death.

It was the Harper government that revised the legislation to allow citizenship revocation without a hearing, but it is the Trudeau government that has been enforcing it quite aggressively, stripping people of Canadian citizenship at the rate of approximately thirteen individuals per month.

Such policing seems a little ironic considering Trudeau’s soft approach to revoking the citizenship of terrorists, people who should have professed binding loyalty to the people and soil of Canada. But they lied about their intention. The very basis of their entry into Canada was a false premise.

By contrast, should we be tolerant of the offspring of parents who may have committed errors on their application for a host of forgivable reasons? It may even be naive to expect poor and illiterate refugee status applicants trying to escape Taliban brutality to even understand the concept of citizenship. The law should show some flexibility towards such migrants, and more towards their hapless children.

Some migrants falsely filing their own application deserve to have their citizenship revoked. But by no means should their children be made to suffer.

Trudeau is silent on this controversy over a government insider. And Monsef too is hardly forthright enough. But the law is still unjust when it affects the children of refugees.

In order to rectify any past injustices and to bring some fairness to the debate, we are required to ask if mistakes of the past will be rectified. That is, once the MP’s case has brought the absurdity of the law into the limelight, will people already stripped of their citizenship and deported be allowed to have their citizenship status restored?

To quote Josh Peterson, executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, “When we get a parking ticket, we have a right to a court hearing…and yet for citizens to lose their entitlement to membership in Canada based on allegations of something they may or may not have said 20 years ago, they have no hearing? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Paterson is part of a group that launched a constitutional challenge to the law. Trudeau’s response to the Maryam Monsef case should have a huge bearing on this challenge. Let us hope a touch of humanity will soften this tough legislation.

Source: Farzana Hassan: It’s unjust to revoke the citizenship of refugees’ children | Ha

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Denmark’s Right Wing Peddles Anti-Migrant Spray – The Daily Beast

2016/10/03 Leave a comment

Nasty:

There has never been any question about how some Danes really feel when it comes to refugees and migrants. After all, Denmark is a country where the parliament actually voted to seize certain high-value items from them to help offset the costs of their housing and health care. It is also a country where it is legal to bounce migrants and refugees out of nightclubs just for being migrants and refugees.

Now some Danes have taken things a step further by handing out a special pepper spray that is meant to keep refugees away. The refugee-repellent product, Asyl Spray (presumably playing on the word asylum), was distributed in the southeast port city of Haderslev last weekend by the right-wing Danskernes Parti political group.

The purse-size spray can features the promise to “repel refugees” in a “legal” and “effective” way.

 Party leader Daniel Carlsen, who says he came up with the idea, rebuffed outrage by claiming that most pepper spray is illegal in Denmark, and the anti-refugee spray provided a legal alternative.

“I cannot see how it is racist,” he told CNN. “Pepper spray is illegal here so we wanted to figure out a way for Danish people, in particular women, to protect themselves. It’s obviously not the ideal situation.”

He said he knew that while the spray could not stop migrants and refugees from trying to reach Denmark, it might act as a deterrent for those that have arrived. “In the long run we want to repatriate the migrants, we want to repatriate non-Westerners in general, that is in the long run,” he said. “In the short run we want to provide solutions to make life better and safer for the Danish people.”

Not surprisingly, the Danish approach to migration has raised eyebrows among those concerned about the tens of thousands attempting to reach Europe. The United Nations agency on refugees issued a statement of sheer disgust about the produce, stating that it “strongly regrets that this kind of incident is taking place in Denmark against asylum seekers and refugees, people who have already suffered so much.”

Source: Denmark’s Right Wing Peddles Anti-Migrant Spray – The Daily Beast

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Canadian refugee ‘model’ isn’t exportable: Persichilli

2016/09/27 Leave a comment

Tend to agree regarding the non-applicability of the Canadian model – histories, geographies and situations just to different:

As for the adoption of the “Canadian model” for solving the world refugees problem, that’s an overstatement that can be of no interest in Europe. It is like suggesting a tea party in the family room to host an after-party for thousands of people attending a Toronto Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre.

In Europe, the problem is not a lack of willingness to host refugees; in fact, they are already hosting millions. The problem is in the numbers, and those numbers are out of our reach.

Source: Canadian refugee ‘model’ isn’t exportable – The Hill Times – The Hill Times

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Feds expected to scrap controversial ‘safe-countries’ refugee system: insiders

2016/09/22 Leave a comment

Interesting – this would mark one of the more significant reversals of the previous government’s immigration policies.

Having a safe-third countries list was one of the key ways to reduce refugee inflows from countries with comparable human rights laws, and thus at less risk, and I would have expected more adjustments than a wholesale abandonment:

A controversial so-called “safe-countries” system the Harper Conservatives brought in to speed up the processing time of the thousands of inland refugee claims in Canada annually is expected to be scrapped by the Liberal government, insiders say.

The contentious system came with a slew of other changes to the inland refugee system which were implemented in 2012 by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. The system puts certain countries on a “designated countries of origin” list in an attempt to speed up refugee claims from those countries that “do not normally produce refugees, but do respect human rights and offer state protection,” as stated on the government’s website.

Instead of the typical 60-day claim period, refugee claimants from any of the 42 countries are required by law to be processed in 30 to 45 days. Some say this puts refugee claimants from countries on the DCO, or so-called safe-countries list at a disadvantage by having to prove their case in half the time as a refugee from a non-DCO country.

Additionally, it makes scheduling within the IRB difficult. Even though decision-makers are legally obligated to process the claims of DCO refugees within 30 to 45 days, it does not always work out that way due to the scheduling conflicts that can arise when trying to juggle two timelines of refugee claims.

During the last election campaign, the Liberals made a commitment to create a panel to review the countries on the list, which currently includes Mexico, Romania, and South Korea.

In an interview with The Hill Times, Mario Dion, chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, the tribunal responsible for processing inland refugee claims, said Immigration Minister John McCallum (Markham-Thornhill, Ont.) is “considering abolishing the distinction, which would render the creation of the panel a moot requirement.”

“The minister is looking at this as we speak, and he’s said so publicly in several fora this summer,” Mr. Dion added.

The public fora included at least one roundtable discussion, according to former chairperson of the IRB and refugee law professor Peter Showler, who was present.

Mr. Showler said he expects the DCO system to be removed, despite not having direct assurance from the government at this point. “But, we’ve had public statements from the minister that he sees no merit to them. Their initial intention—it was always a false premise. I think the minister understands.”

Source: The Hill Times

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