Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Tories restore controversial provisions to refugee bill

The federal Conservatives will table a new bill Thursday removing the right of appeal for failed refugee claimants from so-called “safe countries,” the Star has learned.

Asylum seekers whose claims are rejected, withdrawn or abandoned will also be banned from applying for permanent residency on humanitarian grounds within a year of the refugee board’s decision, a government source confirmed with the Star.

These changes will essentially return the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, passed by the House of Commons in 2010, to its original form — restoring the most contentious clauses removed by the then Conservative minority government under opposition pressure.

Canada does not currently have a list of safe countries of origin, countries considered capable of providing state protection to its citizens. However, democratic countries such as Mexico and Hungary — currently key source countries of Canada’s refugee claimants — are likely to be designated as such by the immigration minister once the new act takes effect, other sources say.

The refugee reform act was to take effect last December but was delayed until June, fuelling fears among critics that Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was buying time to backpedal on those concessions, now that the government has a majority mandate.

When the reform bill was passed two years ago, Kenney hailed the compromise with the NDP and Bloc Quebecois as a “win-win” and “very reasonable.”

“The opposition parties obtained their objective of universal access for failed claimants to the appeal division,” he said. “The government obtained its objective of being able to address large waves of unfounded claimants from democratic countries by removing them more quickly.”

Obviously, it wasn’t going to be quick enough.

“The Balanced Refugee Reform Act was introduced to speed up the removal of bogus claimants, but it seems clear to us that the legislation as it is won’t solve the problem,” said the government source, who asked not to be identified.

“The government is looking at further improvement while upholding Canada’s humanitarian tradition.”

All week the government has been setting up its agenda for the tabling of the new bill — driving home the message that Canada has done its humanitarian share in accepting United Nations-sanctioned refugees but must stay tough on those arriving at our borders.

Kenney has hosted media events boasting of the government’s efforts to resettle UN refugees, such as queer Iranians who fled to Turkey and those being helped through a refugee sponsorship agreement with the Anglican Church.

Meanwhile, refugee statistics were leaked to Sun Media suggesting 90 per cent of the 5,800 asylum claims received in 2011 from the European Union, mainly eastern Europe, are considered bogus.

Lorne Waldman, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, said the bill that had been passed by Parliament in June 2010 had the support of human rights and advocacy groups, as well as lawyers, opposition politicians and refugees themselves.

“The right to an appeal is vital . . . and the H&C (humanitarian and compassionate application) is a safety belt for exceptional circumstances” involving these refugees, he said.

“It is disappointing now that they have a majority government and decided to reintroduce the things that we had opposed vigorously.”

Waldman also said the one-year ban on humanitarian applications will essentially allow the Canadian government to deport failed refugee claimants before they have a chance to apply for permanent residency.

The source said the government will stick to the June 29 implementation timetable despite these last-minute changes.

In 2010, the government received 22,543 refugee claims, of which 12,305, or 38 per cent, were accepted (the rate takes into account claims that were withdrawn or abandoned, and did not go in front of a refugee tribunal hearing). The top five countries for refugees were Hungary, China, Colombia, Mexico and Sri Lanka.

Original Article
Source: Star 
Author: Nicholas Keung 

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