The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
CBC News – P.E.I.’s PNP Program Leading to Double Standard for Canadian Immigration, Says Lawyer
Businesses set up under the “100 per cent ownership stream” in the provincial nominee program are known simply as “PNP companies.” It’s a system the provincial Liberal government says is diversifying the Island’s population and economy, but its critics say has evolved into a side-door route to larger Canadian cities, while filling the province’s coffers with forfeited deposits from failed or abandoned ventures. “In the absence of a sound and rational immigration program with proper oversight … wealthy applicants will work the system,” veteran Halifax-based immigration lawyer Lee Cohen wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
BBC News – Canada Grants Refugee Status in About 60% Of Migrant Cases
New figures released by the federal Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) show that of 1,572 claims heard so far in 2017, 941 have been granted. The IRB has a backlog of 12,895 cases currently pending.
Those made by migrants from Syria, Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan, Djibouti and Turkey were the most likely to be accepted. However, of the small number of claims by Haitians processed so far, 298, only about 10% have been accepted. Failed claimants face removal to Haiti. The IRB notes that the new figures represent a small sample – 1,572 of 14,467 total claims – and that “caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions regarding trends”.
Le Huffington Post – La francisation des immigrants est un échec, conclut la vérificatrice générale
La francisation des immigrants au Québec est un échec, constate la vérificatrice générale dans un rapport rendu public jeudi. Seulement le tiers des immigrants auxquels est destiné le processus de francisation se sont inscrits aux cours offerts par le ministère de l’Immigration, entre 2010 et 2013.
La Presse – Immigration illégale : des policiers grecs dans les aéroports allemands
Des policiers grecs vont être déployés en Allemagne pour y renforcer les contrôles aéroportuaires après l’interception dans des aéroports allemands de centaines de migrants venant de Grèce avec de faux papiers, a déclaré une source policière.
Global News – Canada Pledges $35M to Help Bangladesh Aid Women, Girls Amid Rohingya Refugee Influx
Canada will spend $35 million over five years to help Bangladesh address the needs of women and girls as the country deals with a massive influx of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the new spending – to be directed through United Nations agencies – from Bangladesh, where she was getting a first-hand look at the crisis that has seen more than 620,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar since August. The new Canadian spending comes as Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement earlier today that would allow for the return of the Rohingya. However, the government of Myanmar announced no details of the plan, which was immediately criticized by Amnesty International.
CTV News – Refugee System Isn’t for Those Only Seeking Better Economic Life: Trudeau
Would-be Canadians need more than just a desire for a better economic future if they expect to be granted refugee status in this country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday. Trudeau, speaking at an event in Charlottetown, pointed to the case of 6,300 Haitians who have crossed illegally into Canada from the U.S. in recent months to request asylum. Statistics released this week show that of the 298 Haitian cases that had been heard by the end of October, only 29 were granted protection. “Refugee status means that you have nowhere to go, you can not be protected by your home state,” the prime minister said. “It’s not just a question of, ‘I’m looking for an economic future, so I want to come to Canada.”‘
