Appeal for Refugee Rights

Post date: April 6, 2005

It's time for a just and fair refugee determination system.

A fair and just refugee determination system is an essential part of Canada's immigration process. But our system is complicated and flawed. Chief among its flaws is the continued lack of a process for claimants to appeal a negative decision on the merits of their case - a basic right available to all Canadians.

FSA Toronto supports KAIROS - Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives - effort to protect refugee rights in Canada. FSA's Board encourages anyone who supports refugee rights to support KAIROS' petition below.

Sign the Appeal for Refugee Rights!

If you want to add your voice to the more than 11,000 Canadians who have asked the government to immediately implement the Refugee Appeal Division approved by Parliament in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, please download and sign the Appeal for Refugee Rights petition (PDF format) and then send it to KAIROS at the address provided on the form.

As a party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, Canada is obliged not to send refugees back to persecution.

When the government brought in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2002, it reduced the number of adjudicators who hear refugee claims from two people to one and agreed to add a formal appeal process that would allow refugee claimants to appeal the substance of a negative decision.

Canada currently allows reviews on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, and a federal review of the process to deal with procedural problems, but there is no way to re-examine the substance of a case.

You may also choose to circulate the petition among friends and colleagues. The more signatures, the stronger the support!

Please note that the deadline date for completed petitions has been extended to April 15, 2005.

What is the Refugee Appeal Division?

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) came into effect on June 28, 2002 and, among other things, provided a Refugee Appeal Division to give a refused refugee the right to appeal a negative decision.

Although in May 2002 then-Minister of Immigration Denis Coderre, promised that the government would implement the appeal process in one-year's time, it's been almost three years and nothing has been done.

As a result, a single Immigration and Refugee Board decision-maker now decides whether a person faces persecution in their home country, a decision on which the person’s very life and security may depend. There is no right to an appeal on the merits of this decision.

For more updates and current information on this action, please visit KAIROS website. In the near future, KAIROS will also post on the "Current Campaign" page a lobbying kit for all those interested in contacting their MPs about refugee rights.

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