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.
Radio-Canada – Seules deux femmes ont refusé de se dévoiler pour obtenir leur citoyenneté
Depuis 2011, deux femmes ont refusé de prêter leur serment de citoyenneté parce qu’elles devaient retirer leur voile, a indiqué à Radio-Canada le ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration. « Nous sommes seulement au courant que deux personnes ont choisi de ne pas poursuivre la cérémonie de citoyenneté en raison de l’obligation de retirer le voile qui couvre leur visage », a écrit la porte-parole du ministère Sonia Lesage dans un courriel envoyé au diffuseur public.
The McGill Tribune – Understanding Quebec’s Role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis
On Sept. 9 the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis was declared the worst humanitarian crisis of our time by the Secretary General of the United Nations. Over 11 million Syrians have been displaced as a result of the current civil war. While the majority of refugees have fled to the Middle East and Europe, Quebec has accepted more than half of the 2,374 Syrian refugees who came to Canada between January 2014 and August 2015. […] Stéphane Plante, press officer for the office of the Immigration Minister, explained Quebec’s current role in the refugee crisis. “Our government felt that it was the right time to show leadership in the face of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II,” Plante said. “We have a moral obligation toward those men, women, [and] children fleeing violence. We have the opportunity to provide them with peace, security, and a future.” Plante cited the Quebec government’s intention to admit 2,450 more Syrian refugees this year, bringing the total refugees admitted into the province in 2015 up to 3,650. He additionally explained that Quebec has resettled 60 per cent of all Syrian refugees in Canada.
CBC – Manitoba to Give Emergency Funds for Refugee Assistance Program
A Manitoba program that helps refugees with paperwork and legal issues will get emergency funding from the provincial government. Funding for the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council’s paralegal program originally came from the provincial nominee program, but that funding ended in 2012 when the federal government took over and stopped funding programs for refugee claimants and privately-sponsored refugee claimants. The province did not continue funding that particular service, meaning it was at risk of being cut. The program need about $200,000 to continue. A GoFundMe online campaign that the council had launched in June has raised about $7,100 to date. On Tuesday afternoon, Premier Greg Selinger said it’s a modest amount of money to help refugees who arrive in Manitoba. “We’re not going to leave refugees at the border because somebody’s not there to do the paperwork. We’ll get the paperwork done,” he told CBC News.
CBC – Niqab Ban Prevented 2 Women From Proceeding with Citizenship Oath
Since the Conservative government implemented a policy in 2011 stating that candidates for citizenship must remove any kind of face covering when taking the public citizenship oath, only two women have decided to not go through with the ceremony. “Citizenship applications have not been refused based on the 2011 policy,” said Sonia Lesage, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. “We are only aware of two individuals who have chosen not to proceed to the citizenship ceremony based on the requirement to remove their face coverings.” […] The wearing of the niqab during the citizenship oath has become a controversial election issue. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May oppose the ban, while Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe support it. In 2011, then immigration minister Jason Kenney issued a new policy manual stating that candidates for citizenship must remove any kind of face covering when taking the public citizenship oath. […] A Federal Court judge ruled against the federal government and struck down the ban. The federal government appealed that decision, but lost that as well.
Hamilton Spectator – Record 522K Migrants Arrive in Europe by Sea in 2015
A record 522,124 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea this year, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday. The number is more than double the previous high set only last year. Of the estimated number of migrants who made the hazardous journey by sea, 388,000 arrived in Greece and 130,891 in Italy. They hail from countries that include Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Bangladesh, the IOM said. Last year, 219,000 migrants and refugees escaping war and poverty sailed to Europe. The route to Italy along the central Mediterranean is the deadliest — 2,621 migrants have drowned or gone missing there this year—but deaths have started to increase in the Aegean Sea, where many Syrians are heading from Turkey in an effort to reach Greece, the IOM said. It estimated that 246 people have died on that route in 2015.
Reuters – Austria Warns Migration Crisis Could Lead to Use of Force on Borders
Austria may have to use force to ease any backlog of migrants if Germany decided to no longer let them enter via their shared border, but will continue to work closely with its neighbor to expedite the flow, the Vienna government said on Tuesday. Germany has re-imposed border controls and curbed rail traffic from Austria in an effort to slow an influx of migrants, thousands of whom reach its territory daily. By contrast, Austria is largely letting migrants stream onto its soil from Hungary unhindered and shuttling them towards Germany. Asked by a reporter what would happen if Germany “seals the border”, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said: “Then there will be a massive backlog here in Austria and therefore here we quickly need a European answer. “Otherwise there will consequently be only two possibilities: either we carry on as until now, or there will be strict controls at the borders,” she told reporters before a cabinet meeting. “But then we must presume that images of force will emerge, that the use of force will be necessary.”
