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Canadian%20Council%20for%20Refugees

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Title: Canadian%20Council%20for%20Refugees


1
Canadian Council for Refugees
Facing Facts
Myths and misconceptions about refugees and
immigrants in Canada
www.ccrweb.ca
2
Real refugees are those who wait in camps
overseas. Those who make a claim in Canada jump
the line and are not as deserving.
MYTH
  • Refugees are people who have been forced from
    their homes by human rights abuses. All refugees
    have a right to protection, wherever they are.
  • Canada has legal obligations toward refugees in
    Canada under the Convention Relating to the
    Status of Refugees and the Convention against
    Torture.
  • We should not expect refugees to wait passively
    for someone to help them.

3
MYTH
Real refugees dont travel on false documents.
  • International law recognizes that refugees often
    have no choice but to enter a country of asylum
    illegally.
  • Interdiction measures are used by many
    governments to prevent people from arriving on
    their territory.
  • Many Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in the first
    half of the twentieth century used false
    documents to reach safety and were later
    recognized as refugees.
  • For many refugees fleeing persecution, a false
    travel document is the only means of escape.

4
  • Due to the circumstances in which they are
    sometimes forced to leave their home country,
    refugees are perhaps more likely than other
    aliens to find themselves without identity
    documents.
  • Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
    for Refugees (UNHCR)

5
Canadas refugee determination system needs
reform to become faster.
MYTH
  • Refugee status determination is an inherently
    difficult process.
  • Unlike other countries with a refugee
    determination system, Canada does not give
    refused claimants an appeal on the merits of
    their case.
  • Refugee status determination processing times are
    determined by how effectively the government
    manages the process.

6
Canada does more than its share to assist
refugees and asylum seekers when compared to
other countries.
MYTH
  • Only a small minority of refugees and asylum
    seekers make claims in the worlds richest
    countries, including Canada.
  • Canada donates far less per capita in support for
    refugees abroad than many other developed
    countries.

Canada is here
5
30
65
Percentage of refugees hosted by country on a per
capita income basis
Source U.S. Committee for Refugees and
Immigrants. World Refugee Survey 2007.
7
Refugee claimants pose threats to Canadas
security.
MYTH
  • Refugee claimants are not threats to security
    they are seeking security and protection from
    threats to their own lives.
  • Refugee claimants all go through a front-end
    security screening.
  • It is far more difficult to enter Canada as a
    refugee than as a visitor.
  • Refugee claimants are excluded if they are found
    to be inadmissible on the basis of security,
    serious criminality, organized criminalty or
    human rights violations.

8
  • We may need a policy to deal with terrorism, but
    it does not follow that immigration or refugee
    determination is the place to start.
  • Terence Corcoran, The National Post

9
Family class immigrants contribute less to Canada
than economic immigrants.
MYTH
  • Families make significant positive contributions
    to Canadian society.
  • Family class immigrants are less likely to be
    low-income than skilled workers immediately after
    they arrive in Canada.
  • People contribute to society in many ways.

10
Canada has more difficulty integrating newcomers
today than a century ago. Immigrants are now more
diverse.
MYTH
  • Fears about immigrant integration are not new.
  • A hundred years ago, Canada was actually quite
    diverse.
  • Diversity is not something to be feared
    diversity is Canadas strength.

11
Canada's diversity, properly nurtured, is our
great strength Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
12
Canada respects the rights of all refugees and
immigrants living in Canada.
MYTH
  • Canadians are rightly proud of our Charter of
    Rights and Freedoms and our human rights
    commitments, but our record is not spotless.
  • The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has
    repeatedly criticized Canada for its slowness in
    reuniting refugee families.
  • The Inter-American Commission on Human has
    identified a series of flaws in Canadas refugee
    determination system, including the lack of
    appeal.

13
For more information
  • www.ccrweb.ca

Or contact a local CCR member organization
(Insert name of organization and contact
information)
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