Canada to scrap one avenue for refugees

Image via WikipediaBY ELIZABETH THOMPSON, IPOLITICS.CA



Refugees from some of the world's most dangerous countries could soon find it more difficult to find refuge in Canada.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has put forward a proposal to eliminate one of the three classes Canada uses to resettle refugees. The source-country class allows residents of designated countries to apply directly to Canada for refugee status from inside those countries.

In its notice of the proposed change, the government says the groups most likely to be affected by the change are Colombians and Eritreans.

The refugee spaces that had been allocated to the source-country class will be reallocated to the larger convention-refugee-abroad class. In the convention class, Canada works with the United Nations human rights commissioner for refugees to resettle refugees located outside their country of origin.

Applications under the source-country class that have been approved in principle will be processed, and candidates who meet the criteria will be issued a visa. Those not already approved in principle will be reassessed under the remaining refugee resettlement classes. Unsuccessful applicants who feel they need protection will be referred to the UN human rights commissioner.

The government says the change is being proposed because the source-country class isn't "effective or efficient."

However, Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said scrapping the class instead of reforming it will close the door to people who can't easily leave their home countries to apply for refugee status and force them into the arms of human-smugglers.

"They are proposing to close one of the few options Canada has which allows people who face persecution to avoid smugglers."

The source country class, which has existed since 1997, allows prospective refugees from designated countries to apply to Canada for refugee status before they leave the country.

Currently, six countries are designated: Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The last time the list of designated countries was revised was 2001. While Canadian government travel warnings have since been reduced for some countries, such as Guatemala and El Salvador, the Department of Foreign Affairs still warns against any travel to Sudan and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.

In its proposal, the government said a review of the source-country class in 2009 found it isn't effective.

"The source country class was intended to be a flexible tool for humanitarian intervention, capable of responding to a variety of populations and situations," the government wrote.

"However, the review found that the class can only be used successfully in a narrow range of humanitarian situations in a small number of countries around the world."

In some countries, the system was being swamped with applications from citizens of other countries located in the designated country.

"Direct access was granted in the six source countries to accommodate applications from source country nationals," the government explained. "However, the provision is also being used by non-nationals residing in the source countries who would normally be required to have a referral or a private sponsor, since Canada cannot restrict the application of direct access based on nationality. As a result, any foreign national living in a source country may use the direct access provision to apply for resettlement without referral."

In some countries, such as Columbia, where the average acceptance rate is 13 per cent, the Canadian embassy was swamped with thousands of applications. In Sierra Leone and Sudan, fewer than 100 applications have been submitted in each country.

Dench said part of the reason that the source-country class hasn't been working as well as it could is that the government hasn't been trying to make it work.

"We're particularly critical of the fact that the program has never really been made to work in Africa."

Dench said improvements are needed, such as not having a published list of countries. However, she said she was shocked to learn the government is proposing to scrap the source country class altogether.

"From our perspective it is a very bad idea."

Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau said the government's proposal makes a case for the move and he supports the idea of working with the UN human rights commissioner.

However, Trudeau said he also has concerns about the move and would like to see the House of Commons immigration committee hold hearings into the question.

"Any time we're eliminating an entire class of refugee applicants I get very wary."

elizabeththompson@ipolitics.ca

Twitter.com/LizT1

© Copyright (c) 2011 iPolitics.ca

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Immigrants create networks to help them help themselves

Image via Wikipedia

Suzanne WintrobSpecial to the Star

At 15, Tina Tehranchian graduated from high school and left her native Iran to study at an American university. After receiving a BA in political science and commerce and a masters in communications, she and her new husband returned to Iran. When their son was born, the couple decided to relocate again, to Canada, to build their son’s future.

The 1990 recession was a difficult time to find a job in communications, and even more so for a new immigrant. Tehranchian wasn’t familiar with any employment agencies and “all I kept hearing the same old excuse all the time, ‘You need Canadian experience’ — even though I had U.S. experience.

“But it didn’t seem to count for much.”

To make ends meet, she snagged a job in the financial industry and hoped for the best. “It suited my personality,” she said. She retrained as a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Financial Consultant and started building her new career.

About 10 years ago, Tehranchian began volunteering with Family Service Association of Metro Toronto, which was examining employment issues in the Iranian community.

She was thrilled to learn about the many employment agencies helping new immigrants learn the ropes in Canada.

Soon after the Iranian-Canadian Network for Employment and Entrepreneurship Mentoring (ICN) was born, uniting newly-arrived Iranians with Iranian-Canadian business owners and professionals to provide mentoring and help them secure employment.

“One of the biggest challenges immigrants face is how to translate their experiences and their education from back home to the realities of the job market in Canada, and that’s why having a mentor who’s got the exact same background as themselves can be a big help,” says Tehranchian. “It takes all of the cultural differences into account.”

Today, Tehranchian is a branch manager and financial advisor at Assante Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto.

She also sits on the advisory committee for the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s Professional Immigrant Network (PIN), a collection of volunteer-run groups for internationally-educated and experienced professionals. Tehranchian is PIN’s co-chair.

The 70 groups collectively represent more than 25,000 people, and host lectures, workshops and social events throughout the year to help immigrants network with their peers, find jobs in their area of expertise, and give back to the community.

Elizabeth MacIsaac, TRIEC’s executive director, says one of the obstacles new Canadians struggle with is leaving behind their professional connection, and that’s why it’s critical they build a new one quickly.

TRIEC reaches out to immigrants through community agencies, she says.

Yet few immigrants avail themselves of those services when they arrive.

They connect first with professional colleagues who share their culture, history and experiences. It’s about familiarity and trust, says MacIsaac.

This is why TRIEC united all of the groups under the Professional Immigrant Network banner recently.

“Just as one group might be doing mentoring, another might be linking to affinity groups at big corporations,” says MacIsaac. “Another might be holding regular networking and information sessions.

“They can learn from one another.”

The initiative is funded by Scotiabank, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and ALLIES, a project of the Maytree foundation.

MacIsaac says companies have expressed interest in tapping into the groups to recruit employees.

Paula Calderon, president of the Canadian Colombian Professionals Association, came to Canada from Bogota in 2001. She urges new immigrants to spend time researching opportunities and programs outside their own communities, too. She mentions TRIEC’s “networking-beyond-boundaries” event at the Toronto Board of Trade Mar. 31, which unites many Hispanic groups to network with human resource departments from top corporations.

“Nothing has the magic formula, but [researching] will definitely help them save time on how to do things and how to best approach employers,” says Calderon, client relations manager and applicant screener at Career Edge Organization.

“Doing the research on presentation and job search skills is definitely something that takes time. Being well prepared actually saves time in the search. The better prepared you are, the better you present yourself, and the easier it is to secure employment.”

Tehranchian recommends prospective new Canadians start their research well before arriving.

“Do as much homework as possible to find the community groups, to find the service agencies and the programs that you could benefit from, because there are so many free programs available!” she says.

“Try to leverage your contacts and build a network as soon as you get to Canada!”

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Next stop, Canada, in new wave of emigration from Iran

Image via WikipediaBy Farshid Motahari Mar 21, 2011, 4:07 GMT

Tehran - There is almost no time when people get together in Tehran that migration to Canada is not discussed.

The North American country has turned into the new Garden of Eden for those who see no future in their homeland of Iran.

'I am done with my homeland, which I used to love, and I want to continue my life living in a place with no restrictions and gender discrimination,' said Haleh, a 30-year-old chemical engineer in Tehran who plans to leave for Toronto in the summer.

She is not alone in her frustration. The number of Iranians seeking a new life in Canada has increased by at least 30 per cent in the past 20 months, according to several agencies in Tehran dealing with migration to Canada.

Observers said one of the main reasons is the June 2009 presidential election, which was overshadowed by fraud. Street protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were violently suppressed along with any hope of change in the Islamic state.

A sociologist in Tehran said the enthusiasm before the election and the hope that Iran would move toward democracy has turned into frustration, prompting the younger generation in particular to consider leaving.

'What we witness now is the emigration of young and educated people who see no more opportunities in Iran,' the sociologist said. 'They do not want to waste themselves here but seek a new start in a country like Canada, where they believe their potential could be realized.'

The first emigration wave from Iran happened in the years after the 1979 revolution and the establishment of its clergy-ruled Islamic republic.

The destinations then of those countries.

According to officials, 5 million Iranians live abroad, but observers said the number is even higher because their children born abroad are not necessarily registered in Iran.

A university professor in Tehran questioned how aware these offspring are of their origins. 'They probably do not speak Persian, either,' the educator said. 'They are Iran's lost generation resulting from the country's situation in the last three decades.'

Canada has emerged in recent years as the new destination for emigration. Because of its selective criteria for immigrants, mainly educated and professionally qualified Iranians are allowed in.

A census back in 2006 put the number of Iranians who have migrated to Canada at 92,085. The number is said to be more than 250,000 now.

Because most of the Iranians prefer to settle in Toronto, the city has been nicknamed 'Tehranto.'

One of the new aspects of migration to Canada is that Iranians moving there are not necessarily motivated by money because many enjoy a good standard of living in Iran.

Ali, a 43-year old doctor, and his wife had a good double income and a comfortable life but still decided to move to Toronto.

'I love Canada because every attempt of mine at being happy is not discouraged or dissuaded, disregarded or dis-whatevered,' Ali said.

Mohammad, a dentist, has had his own clinic in Tehran and believes that his income at home would be more than in Toronto, where he is planning to go soon.

'I can earn money in Iran, but what I miss is simply having choices in a country with no choices, either political or social,' he said. 'It's not a place where I want to spend the rest of my life.'

Many Iranians planning to go to Canada saw their political choices ignored in the 2009 presidential election and their protests violently suppressed.

'If I vote for different people and political parties and even if they lose, I still expect them to be active as an opposition and not suddenly removed from the political scenery,' said Farinaz, a 37-year-old architect, who also wants to migrate to Canada.

She was referring to the two main challengers to Ahmadinejad in the election. They have been branded by the government as 'Western mercenaries and agents,' prevented from taking party in political activities and put under house arrest since last month.

Iran's generation under 35 faces numerous social restrictions, especially in contacts with the opposite sex.

'Socially, we have no choices either because we either have to get married or be preached at that having fun is immoral and having passion a sin, which even leads to earthquakes,' said Maryam, a 28-year-old student who has applied to migrate to Canada.

She was referring to a sermon last year in Tehran in which Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi said that social immorality, such as improper women's clothing and sex outside marriage, increases the probability of earthquakes.

Source: 

http://www.monstersandcritics.com