Xtra. Nathaniel Christopher / Vancouver / Monday, June 04, 2012

Refugees’ rights advocates say a law proposed by the Harper government will increase the likelihood that gay asylum seekers will be rejected, deported or imprisoned. “C-31 is designed to make Canada quite an unattractive option for people seeking protection. And it certainly will make it very difficult for anyone, whether or not they have good grounds for protection, to have their claim fully and thoroughly assessed,” says Lesley Stalker, a former legal officer for the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, who addressed a May 30 forum on the bill in Vancouver.

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Stewart Bell Feb 6, 2012 – 10:57 PM ET | Last Updated: Feb 6, 2012 11:02 PM ET

TORONTO • The refugee claims from the nearly 600 Sri Lankans who paid smugglers to ferry them to Canada are moving slowly and face dwindling odds of success, new statistics show. More than two years after the Ocean Lady arrived off Vancouver Island carrying 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, only one has been accepted as a refugee so far, according to newly released Immigration and Refugee Board figures. Another has been ordered deported and the remaining claims are pending.

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Refugees will face drastic cuts to their health insurance on June 30th,  2012
Children will no longer be able to get their asthma medications
Diabetics will no longer be able to take their insulin
Many refugees will no longer have access to health  care

Join your colleagues in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg,  Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and other cities

at a National Day of Action
June 18th,  at 12 pm - 1 pm
Vancouver location: The CIC building at 1148 Hornby St

Risking the lives of Canada’s most vulnerable is unacceptable to us.

Join the following in opposing these cuts:

College of Family Physicians of Canada
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Canadian Association of Optometrists
Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Dental Association
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Nurses Association
Canadian Pharmacists Association
Canadian Association of Community Health Centres

Although the perspective of front-line health care workers will be highlighted in this action, all are welcome to come and show their opposition to the cuts.

All health care workers should wear a lab coat or greens.
Please RSVP : Docs4refugeeBC@gmail.com

June 1, 2012, Georgia Straight, by Shayna Plaut

By Nadia Saad Us Man | April 23, 2012. rabble.ca

Introduced under another signature defensive title, the Conservatives’ Bill C-31: “Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act”, combines exclusionary refugee measures from Bill C-4 (“Protecting Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System”) and Bill C-11 (“Balanced Refugee Reform Act”). Both C-4 and -11 were previously proposed but rejected by opposition while the Conservatives were a minority in Parliament. Now with their full majority power, the Harper government is bringing in even harsher measures through Bill C-31, which was announced in February. Should the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, succeed in his goal to push this bill through by June, refugee claimants will be further invalidated, criminalized and endangered. The burden of the bill’s impact will fall on women, queer- and trans-identifying individuals and their families, and those fleeing from “safe” countries that are Canada’s trade partners.

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