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Archived Urgent Action
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The newImmigrant and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) will come into force on June 28, 2002. In a surprise move, the Minister of Immigration, Denis Coderre, announced at the end of April that he intends to delay the implementation of the long awaited and long overdue right to appeal a negative refugee decision. Churches and other refugee rights groups have been calling for many years for the introduction of a meaningful appeal process for refugee claimants. This announcement has met with great disappointment, sadness and anger by all of us who care about the fate of refugees in Canada. |
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- Letter to Deputy Prime Minister John Manley regarding concerns about the Safe Third Country Agreement
- Press Release: "Safe Third Country" Agreement puts Refugees at Risk
- Background on Safe Third Country Agreement
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Background Information |
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The new Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) will come into force on June 28, 2002. In a surprise move, the Minister of Immigration, Denis Coderre, announced at the end of April that he intends to delay the implementation of the long awaited and long overdue right to appeal a negative refugee decision. Churches and other refugee rights groups have been calling for many years for the introduction of a meaningful appeal process for refugee claimants. This announcement has met with great disappointment, sadness and anger by all of us who care about the fate of refugees in Canada.
Currently refugee claimants have the right to be heard by two members of the Immigration and Refugee Board, and are granted refugee status if one of them accepts the claim. The new law would reduce the number of members at the first hearing to one, but balances that with the right to an appeal. The government however now says it will continue with plans for a one-member panel but it will take away the right of an appeal. This will mean that the fate of refugee claimants will be in the hands of a single decision maker and a wrong decision could mean return to torture, imprisonment or even death.
Below is a letter sent to the Minister of Immigration expressing our grave concerns about the sudden and undemocratic plan to delay the implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division. As you will note, we sent copies of the letter to the Immigration critics in the opposition parties.
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Recommended Action |
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We call on people of faith to raise your voices to this unjust move on the part of the government and to stand up for the rights of refugee claimants who arrive on our shores. We urge you to send your own letter to the Minister and the Prime Minister to oppose the government's plans.
A number of letters have also been sent to the Minister by KAIROS member churches.
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Sample Letter to Hon. Denis Coderre, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration |
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By Mail and Fax: 613-957-2688
May 7, 2002
Hon. Denis Coderre, PC, MP
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Ottawa, Ont. K1A 1L1
Dear Minister;
We are writing with regard to your recent and sudden announcement to delay implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) on June 28, when the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) goes into force. We strongly urge you to implement the RAD on June 28 as planned, for the following compelling reasons.
As you may know, Canadian churches have been calling for a meaningful appeal process in Canada's refugee determination system for a number of years. We have not been alone in doing so. The lack of an appeal process has been raised as a serious concern by refugee rights groups across Canada, such as the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International. In the international arena, both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and more recently the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, have criticized Canada for our failure to fulfill our international legal obligations with respect to refugees, as there has been no appeal process in place to date.
We are very concerned with your intention not only to delay a long awaited and much overdue appeal process, but at the same time to proceed with the plan to implement a one-member panel in all refugee determination hearings. Such a move would put the fate of refugee claimants in the hands of a single member of the new Refugee Protection Division, with no opportunity to appeal an unfair decision. It would further violate Canada's obligation to ensure a fair process for inland refugee claimants.
At the time it was introduced, your government's reform package - a one-member panel coupled with the right to an appeal of a negative decision- was sold to us as a package. In other words, we accepted the concept of a one-member panel only in conjunction with the right to appeal. We submit that a one-member panel without the safeguard of an appeal severely compromises the rights of refugee claimants and that such a system is both unfair and unacceptable to the churches.
Finally, it is clear that when the Parliament of Canada passed the IRPA it approved the same package that was presented to us, that is, a one-member panel but the right to appeal a negative decision. It is our view that to implement one part of the package without the other would be a major change, with far reaching consequences, and therefore would require a review by Parliament prior to implementation.
We request that you advise us in the near future of how you plan to proceed in this matter.
Sincerely,
Pat Steenberg
Executive Director
c.c. The Right Hon. Jean Chretien, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister
Judy Wasylycia-Leis, M.P., New Democratic Party
Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, M.P., Bloc Quebecois
Diane Ablonczy, M.P., Canadian Alliance
Inky Mark, M.P. Conservative Party
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