 
Letter to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Joe Volpe
22 June 2005
Hon. Joe Volpe, PC, MP
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Ottawa, ON
K1A 1L1
Re: Concern regarding continued stalling on the issue of the Refugee
Appeal Division
Dear Mr. Volpe
On behalf of KAIROS, I wish to express my grave concern at your
continued stalling on the issue of the Refugee Appeal Division.
I understand that you were invited to appear before the Standing
Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on June 21 to give a response
to their December 14 motion on this issue. I was extremely disappointed
to learn that you declined the invitation. It is time to take a
decision. Refugee advocates have been calling for implementation
of the Refugee Appeal Division ever since the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act came into effect in 2002.
On April 4 of this year, Refugee Rights Day, MP Meili Faille and
MP Alexa McDonough presented the House of Commons with 10 000 signatures
to a KAIROS petition calling for immediate implementation of the
Refugee Appeal Division. On June 1, MP Diane Ablonczy presented
over 6000 signatures. On June 7, MP Mario Silva presented yet another
6000 signatures.
Your response to the first tabling of our petition offers neither
a promise of implementation nor an indication of when Canadians
can expect a response to the Standing Committee motion that you
implement the appeal or an alternative without delay. I take strong
objection to the following arguments offered in your response:
“The system, even without an appeal, effectively provides
protection to those who need it.” In fact, existing recourses
for rejected refugee claimants leave them extremely vulnerable.
A Humanitarian and Compassionate Application does not protect against
deportation. The Pre-Removal Risk Assessment only examines new evidence.
Almost 90% of all applications to the Federal Court for judicial
review of refugee claim determinations are rejected. As a result,
legitimate refugees are left without an effective recourse. In 2004,
The UN Committee Against Torture found that Canada’s refugee
system failed to fulfill its obligations towards torture survivor
Falcon Rios due to the lack of an effective appeal.
“The government must find an appropriate balance with respect
to integrity of the refugee determination system, public safety
and national security.” Government statements like this one
generate an unfounded and damaging link in the public mind between
refugee claimants and post 9-11 security concerns. None of those
responsible for the 9-11 attacks in the US were refugees or refugee
claimants. In fact, refugee claimants go through extensive security
screening. Implementing the Refugee Appeal Division would in no
way jeopardize the effectiveness of existing screening mechanisms.
For all these reasons, I call on you once again to implement the
Refugee Appeal Division without delay and to stop making unfounded
and unfair links between refugees and security concerns.
Sincerely,
Mary Corkery
Executive Director
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