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Refugees and a fair appeal process
Contents See also
Introduction The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), adopted by Parliament in 2001, provided a Refugee Appeal Division to give a refused refugee the right to appeal a negative refugee decision. However, in April 2002, then Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Denis Coderre announced that the Government had decided not to implement the Appeal Division. As a result, a single Immigration and Refugee Board decision-maker now decides whether a person faces persecution in their home country, a decision on which the person’s very life and security may depend. There is no right to an appeal on the merits from this decision. KAIROS issued several urgent actions on this issue and collected well over 20 000 signatures on a petition calling for immediate implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division. MPs from all four major parties presented petition signatures in the House of Commons through the spring and summer of 2005. However, the appeal has yet to be implemented. The churches continue to add our voice to those of the Canadian
Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, unions and many others
who protect and sponsor refugees. The Canadian people have a history
of compassion for our sisters and brothers who are fleeing persecution.
As citizens, we urgently and respectfully call our government to
account for practices that fail our national and international commitments
to refugees.
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