Posted by admin on Oct 12th, 2009
By Tobi Cohen, THE CANADIAN PRESS, 12th October 2009, 12:29pm
MONTREAL — Deportations from Canada have skyrocketed more than 50 per cent over the last decade and the bulk of those given the boot are failed refugee claimants who often return home to face torture and persecution. Figures obtained by The Canadian Press through Access to Information show Canada removed 12,732 people last year — a major increase from the 8,361 who were deported in 1999. A series of steady increases over the years shows no sign of abating in 2009. By Aug. 25 of this year, 8,999 had already been deported. Statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency show failed refugee claimants accounted for three-quarters of deportations while the remainder were often removed on criminal or security grounds.
» click here to continue reading
Posted by admin on Oct 7th, 2009
October 7, 2009, Heather Scoffield, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – The government is preparing legislation to streamline the refugee system and help get rid of a massive backlog of applications, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Tuesday. Now that a federal election appears less imminent, the government should soon be ready to present a package that reduces the time refugee claimants remain in limbo in Canada, Kenney told the Commons immigration committee. “This is a broken system and it needs to be streamlined.”
» click here to continue reading
Posted by admin on Oct 5th, 2009
By No One Is Illegal-Toronto – Monday, October 5, 2009
Some believe that the Canadian immigration system is fair and generous. It isn’t. And Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney are swiftly making it even worse. They are underhandedly taking apart the so-called ‘objective’ points-based system. They are moving quickly to get rid of its ‘humanitarian’ part, the refugee process. In its place, they are setting up temporary work programs that are designed to push most migrants in to vulnerable, precarious and temporary jobs without access to services or the ability to unionize.
» click here to continue reading
Posted by admin on Sep 9th, 2009
By Laura Payton, September 9, 2009, Embassy Mag
As part of its efforts to reform Canada’s refugee system, the government wants to bring in more refugees designated by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says. This, he argues, would be a much more effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, benefitting people who are really facing persecution, instead of the thousands of “fake” applicants who apply within Canada each year.In recent months, Mr. Kenney has spoken extensively about his desire to reform Canada’s refugee system. He has made it clear that he wants to lower the number of applications made within Canada, which has created a backlog of more than 60,000 applications and costs the government millions of dollars in social assistance while claimants await their hearings.
» click here to continue reading
Posted by admin on Aug 16th, 2009
Norma Greenaway, Canwest News Service, Sunday, August 16, 2009
OTTAWA — The Harper government is readying for Parliament a package of reforms that for the first time could have Canada fast-tracking refugee claimants from countries where citizens are generally thought to be safe from persecution. Though the proposal has yet to get the final nod from cabinet, Martin Collacott, a former Canadian diplomat who specializes in immigration issues, says such a move is long overdue. “We are the only country in the world that will consider a [claim] from someone coming from the United States, from the Philippines, from Thailand, from South Korea,” said Collacott, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
» click here to continue reading
