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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.
Halifax’s mayor will co-chair a national committee tasked with creating a united municipal response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Mike Savage says the Federation of Canadian Municipalities initiative wants to keep cities an active partner as Canada takes in refugees. The federal government handles immigration, but Savage says it naturally falls to municipalities to provide the practical support.
Une cinquantaine de réfugiés syriens et arméniens de Toronto se sont réunis, lundi, afin de célébrer l’Action de grâces, pour la toute première fois dans la plupart des cas. Pour la famille de Betty Poladian, c’était véritablement l’occasion d’être « reconnaissante ». Son mari, ses trois enfants et elle sont arrivés au pays il y a un mois. Elle ne veut pas repenser à la Syrie qu’elle a quittée. Les souvenirs sont trop douloureux pour en parler, dit-elle. Ce qu’elle veut maintenant, c’est penser au futur.
Of the 5,500 unaccompanied Afghan children who have sought asylum in the U.K. since 2006, more than 80 per cent have had their cases rejected. Like unaccompanied children from other regions, the majority of those rejected were given temporary stay in the U.K. Home Office statistics show that of the 99 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Afghanistan who arrived in the country between January and June this year, 20 have been granted asylum and 63 children, whose asylum claims were rejected, have been given temporary stay. The remaining 16 were refused permission to remain in the country. Meanwhile, since 2011, the Home Office has deported more than 600 failed child asylum seekers to Afghanistan, according to a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It’s a controversial policy. Canada, in comparison, has had a formal ban on removals to Afghanistan since 1994, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. This moratorium does not apply to people who leave voluntarily, those with criminal records or those deemed to be a security risk. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Canada whose claims are rejected and who do not come from an area like Afghanistan where a deportation ban exists do not receive temporary stay.
Groups working to bring displaced Syrians to Canada contend processing delays may have had serious consequences for refugees struggling to find food, shelter and other necessities of life. These groups are supposed to be partnering with Ottawa to aid refugees, but one refugee advocate said his organization is unclear on the federal government’s plans.
Canada’s Immigration department had accumulated a backlog of nearly 7,500 applications from Syrian refugees by the time three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach at the beginning of September, the Citizen has learned. Of those stuck in limbo, nearly 2,000 had been identified by the United Nations as being amongst the most vulnerable — and whose applications had been put on hold for at least several weeks by the Prime Minister’s Office in the spring. The government did not respond to questions about why there was such a backlog, or how many files remain unprocessed today. But some are concerned it may be related to the government’s desire to prioritize some groups of Syrian refugees over others. The refugee crisis emerged on the election campaign trail again Friday, after a CTV report said the Prime Minister’s Office had gone through refugee applicant files to make sure Christians and other minority groups were given priority to come to Canada.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/immigration-had-backlog-of-7500-syrian-refugee-applications
As armed conflicts overseas continue without an end in sight, thousands of families are turning to countries such as Canada in hopes of finding a new home. But the process of seeking asylum, or refugee status, isn’t simple — this 14-page flowchart by the B.C.-based charity Kinbrace ably illustrates the procedures for refugee claimants arriving at a Canadian port of entry, such as an airport or land border. Refugee claims can also be made at a port of entry abroad. However, there is a difference in how claims are processed for applicants already in Canada versus those applying from outside the country. First, the refugee claimant already in Canada will be interviewed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) at an airport or land border to determine eligibility for asylum under Canadian law. Applicants must provide accurate documents and information to determine the basis for the claim. The government seeks to filter out human rights violators and criminals, which includes those with suspected terrorist links and even those who left their country in a human smuggling boat.