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.
Metro News Canada – One in Four Failed Refugees Win on Appeal: Study
Adjudicators of refugee cases erred in more than a quarter of the decisions they dismissed, a new study finds, raising concerns over how many claims are wrongfully rejected under Ottawa’s new asylum system. In the first extensive statistical review of the controversial reforms Canada introduced in 2012, Osgoode Hall Law School researchers found the newly-established asylum appeals tribunal granted appeals in 373 or 28 per cent of the 1,337 adjudicated cases. Cases successfully appealed were referred back for reconsideration or had the original decisions quashed and reversed. However, 534 or 28.5 per cent of the total 1,871 appeal requests made — including 59 by immigration officials to reverse a positive decision — were dismissed on technical and procedural grounds by the Refugee Appeals Division in 2013 and 2014, said the report to be published Thursday in the University of British Columbia Law Review journal.
Toronto Star – Canada’s Ethnic Enclaves More Diverse Than You Think, Study Finds
The report by the Institute for Research on Public Policy found neighbourhoods with a dominant ethnic population are actually places of cultural diversity rather than cultural isolation. In fact, the average number of cultural backgrounds represented, even in enclaves, is close to 15, the study found. And surprisingly, it also found that members of visible minorities who live in modern-day enclaves in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are less likely to experience poverty than their counterparts who live outside them. […] “Any assumption that enclaves are monocultural is decidedly incorrect. We see that in Montreal, enclaves are more diverse than other parts of the city, and in Toronto they are just as diverse as other parts of that city. Even in Vancouver, enclaves tend to be highly diverse social settings.” Based on census data for 1996 to 2006 and the 2011 National Household Survey, University of British Columbia professor Daniel Hiebert examined whether enclaves are becoming more prominent in Canada’s urban landscape, the demographics of residents of these enclaves, and their relationship with poverty.
Radio-Canada – La Grèce a secouru 534 réfugiés en 24 heures, dont un bambin inconscient
La Garde côtière grecque a secouru 534 migrants entre mardi et mercredi matin, lors de 14 opérations différentes menées dans la mer Égée. Un bambin a notamment été retrouvé inconscient dans une embarcation surchargée de réfugiés. Les opérations ont été menées dans la portion orientale de la mer Égée, près des îles de Lesbos, de Chios, d’Agathonissi, de Samos, de Farmakonissi et de Kos. Ce bilan n’inclut pas les centaines de personnes qui réussissent à rejoindre les côtes de la Grèce après être parties de Turquie. L’enfant inconscient se trouvait dans une embarcation repérée par un hélicoptère de la police près de l’île de Samos, avec 54 personnes à son bord. Un navire de la Garde côtière les a secourus et le bambin de deux ou trois ans a été conduit à l’hôpital, où son décès a été constaté un peu plus tard. Un passeur a été arrêté mercredi pour avoir transporté deux migrants vers l’île grecque de Lesbos à bord de sa motomarine.
La Presse – Le Mexique juge le programme de Trump raciste et rempli de préjugés
Le gouvernement mexicain dénonce le programme politique du candidat républicain Donald Trump en matière d’immigration, de la sécurité aux frontières et de relations mexico-américaines, affirmant qu’il se fonde sur des préjugés. Selon le secrétariat des Relations extérieures du Mexique, les positions de M. Trump «sont le reflet des préjugés, du racisme ou de la pure ignorance». M. Trump veut retirer la citoyenneté américaine aux enfants d’immigrants clandestins nés aux États-Unis. Il a promis la semaine dernière de renforcer la sécurité à la frontière des deux pays et de déporter tous les immigrants clandestins. Il souhaite aussi construire une muraille le long de la frontière avec le Mexique et forcer ce pays à en assumer les coûts. Dans un courriel transmis mercredi, le secrétariat juge que ces propositions sont non seulement pleines de préjugés et absurdes, mais nuiraient aussi au bien-être des deux pays.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that ISIL could “create millions, tens of millions, of refugees and victims on a monthly basis” and that humanitarian support without military support equals “dropping aid on dead people.” In fairness, the absurd tens-of-millions-a-month calculation may have just been an honest mistake; the “aid on dead people” comment, a grossly awkward turn of phrase. But in exaggerating the numbers of refugees and underestimating the value of support for them, Harper echoes a broader belief that may be incorrect, but not accidental: the world can’t support current levels of migration. It most certainly can. While the earth hosts more refugees than ever recorded, and while many refugees need more humanitarian aid and resettlement spaces, and while many host countries need more support, overall, international migration seems to have remained fairly stable for decades at an approximately three per cent share of the world’s growing population. Besides, countries with falling birthrates need more people to cross their borders and stay there.
CBC – Halifax Chinese Language Mental Health Support Group Starting
Two Chinese-Nova Scotians are setting up a mental health support service aimed at the growing community of international students from China. They say there are few mental health options in other languages, and that causes many Mandarin and Cantonese speakers to turn away from help. “I’ve always had a passion to help newcomers,” said Jinbo Chen, one of the organizers. “Mental health issues are one of the issues that I really care about.” Chen moved to Halifax in 2002 as a university student, and remained in Halifax to work and raise a family. He says Chinese international students face stress and mental health issues for many reasons, including loneliness and isolation, workload, and parental expectations. […] Chen is working to set up the service with Minzhou Sun, a recent international graduate from Dalhousie University who studied psychology. She’s in the final months of a course in counselling skills and human social services at Success College. Sun said when other international students found out she was studying psychology, they often turned to her for support. “I suggested to them to see psychologists, a professional counsellor, years ago. They told me it didn’t work. They preferred to speak to a person who speaks Chinese,” she said.
