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.
BBC – Europe “Must Open Official Channels for Migrants”
Talking about “marauders” and “swarms” was an unsubtle way of dismissing their legitimacy, said Francois Crepeau. European countries should open official channels and their labour markets to migrants because building fences would not stop them coming, he said. On Monday, a record number of refugees crossed into Hungary from Serbia. A total of 2,093 migrants, the highest ever daily total, crossed the border near the town of Roszke, a police statement quoted by AFP news agency said. Hungary, a European Union member, is erecting a fence to keep out the migrants, with 110km (68 miles) of the 175km fence now in place. […] Mr. Crepeau, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, called on the EU to create a “coherent and comprehensive migration policy”, making “mobility its central asset”. “Let’s not pretend that what the EU and its member states are doing is working. Migration is here to stay,” he said in a statement. “Building fences, using tear gas and other forms of violence against migrants and asylum seekers, detention, withholding access to basics such as shelter, food or water and using threatening language or hateful speech will not stop migrants from coming, or trying to come, to Europe.”
Digital Journal – Israel Frees Hundreds of Migrants from Desert Facility
Israel released hundreds of African migrants from a desert detention centre Tuesday after a court order, but asylum seekers were left with few options after being barred from two cities. Detainees leaving the facility waited at bus stops for rides and wondered where they would live after being banned from Tel Aviv and Eilat, where African migrant communities have sprung up. One man said he was leaving the Holot Detention Centre with just $17 and a sandwich. The supreme court ordered Israel to release illegal migrants held for more than a year at the detention centre in the Negev desert, in a ruling that affected 1,178 asylum seekers. An initial 750 people were released on Tuesday in small groups, and the rest will be freed on Wednesday, said Sivan Weizman, a prison service spokeswoman. Authorities have barred those freed from entering Tel Aviv and Eilat in the face of hostility from many residents.
Global News – “Man With No Name” Detainee Deported from Canada: Source
A man who came to Canada on a fake U.S. passport a decade ago has been deported from the country after spending years in detention, sources tell Global News. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) won’t confirm if Michael Mvogo was sent to Cameroon, but a source familiar with his case says he has already left the country. Mvogo, now in his mid-50s, was convicted in 2006 of possessing crack cocaine — an amount that was worth $10. He served his sentence but never left jail. Because he didn’t have a real passport to prove his identity and country of origin — and according to INTERPOL, he had eight identities — CBSA couldn’t deport him. […] The agency spent five years trying to remove him from Canada, making failed attempts to send him to the U.S., Haiti and Guinea. After he finally said in 2011 he was from Cameroon, it took until March of this year for CBSA to confirm his story. The Cameroonian government wouldn’t cooperate with the Canadian investigation into his identity. […] Mvogo’s supporters fought for his release from custody, where he spent a lot of time in solitary confinement.
Montreal Gazette – Quebec Plans to Allow Undocumented Children to Get Free Schooling
Students without legal papers can be admitted to public schools in Quebec if their parents agree to pay about $6,000 in school fees, a sum that is out of reach for most of the families, their supporters say. Supporters of the families, who have been lobbying the Quebec government for years to drop the school fees, received some unexpected good news on Tuesday, the day before a planned rally outside the Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys in St-Laurent. A spokesperson for Education Minister François Blais said the government will implement recommendations made last year by Quebec Ombudsman Raymonde Saint-Germain, including allowing free public schooling to all Quebec children regardless of their immigration status. “There are some legislative changes that are necessary, and we are working on those,” Julie White told the Montreal Gazette. “We hope it will happen in the next few months.” […] In 2007, the Toronto District School Board passed a policy called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which stated that students could attend classes regardless of citizenship status and they would not be reported to immigration authorities.
Radio Canada International – Des soins pour les oubliés du système: les migrants précaires
Au Canada, il y a des milliers de personnes qui ne sont ni résidentes permanentes ni citoyennes canadiennes. Des personnes qui ne sont pas inscrites à un régime provincial d’assurance maladie et qui ne peuvent pas non plus bénéficier du Programme fédéral de santé intérimaire (PFSI). En clair, ces personnes, hommes, femmes et enfants n’ont pas les moyens financiers d’accéder à des soins de santé. Mais comme tout le monde, elles besoin de faire soigner. C’est pour cette clientèle que l’ONG Médecins du monde Canada a lancé en 2011 une clinique médicale générale de première ligne. Quatre ans plus tard, les demandes de consultation ne cessent d’augmenter comme l’explique Véronique Houle, directrice des opérations nationales pour Médecins du Monde Canada. Médecins du Monde International avait réalisé en 2005-2006 une enquête sur la question des sans-papiers qui a donné des idées à Médecins du Monde Canada. Le chapitre canadien s’est intéressé à la question des migrants à Montréal.
Le gouvernement de l’Ontario a adopté une nouvelle loi sur l’immigration. Il s’agit d’une grande victoire pour les Franco-Ontariens car elle reconnaît aux collectivités la capacité d’attirer, d’accueillir et d’intégrer des immigrants. C’est la première fois que la communauté franco-ontarienne est formellement reconnue dans une législation provinciale. Il s’agit d’un droit qu’elle peut réclamer à titre de nation, de collectivités, de communautés afin d’assurer leur développement, épanouissement et vitalité. Les francophones doivent travailler avec le gouvernement afin que l’immigration de francophones maintienne ou augmente leur pourcentage au sein de la population ontarienne. L’Ontario a grandi et prospéré avec l’aide d’une tradition d’immigration qui a joué un rôle fondamental dans l’établissement des valeurs sociales, économiques et culturelles. Pour ce faire, l’Ontario doit collaborer avec le gouvernement du Canada au recrutement et à la sélection d’immigrants et de travailleurs étrangers temporaires. Les Franco-Ontariens doivent prendre les devants et proposer aux deux ordres de gouvernements des moyens afin que la sélection d’immigrants parlant français représente de 8 à 10% de tous les nouveaux arrivants en Ontario. Nous sommes présentement très loin de ce pourcentage et ceci affecte le poids démographique des francophones.
