Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

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C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F O R T H E R I G H T S O F C H I L D R E N article 22 Refugee and Asylum Table of Contents Seeking Children 101 Introduction 101 Canada’s International Obligations 101 Overview of the Refugee Determination Process 102 Legislation 103 Child Refugee Claimants 106 Refugees Selected Abroad 107 Claiming Refugee Status in Canada 110 Lack of Documentation 111 Right-of-landing Fee 111 Deportation 112 Detention 113 Health, Education and Settlement Services 115 Conclusion 100 Article 22 Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children 1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties. 2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations cooperating with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her
family. In cases where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason, as set forth in the present Convention. Interpretation: Article 22 addresses the rights of refugee children, including those seeking refugee status, to appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance, including tracing family members. This article must be read in conjunction with Article 9 (separation from parents only when necessary in the child’s best interests), article 10 (rights to family reunification, to be dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner), article 20 (protection of children without families), article 37 (deprivation of liberty as a last resort), and article 39 (recovery and rehabilitation). 1 Other Articles to consider include: article 7 (right to know and be cared for by parents); the general principles outlined in article 2 (non-discrimination); article 3 (best interests of the child); article 6 (right to survival and development); and article 12 (respect for the child’s views); article 23 (full and decent life for children with a disability); and article 28 (right to education). 2 Introduction Canada’s legislation governing refugees is the Immigration Act. This Act has been described as a complex patchwork of legislative provisions that lack coherence and transparency. 3 The Immigration Act does not set out specific procedures or criteria for dealing with the claims of children other than that a person be designated to represent a child in Immigration and Refugee Board hearings. Statistics and information are generally unavailable on child refugees and it very difficult to assess the extent to which the protection and assistance set out in the Convention are accorded to child refugees in Canada. Canada’s International Obligations In 1969, Canada signed the United Nations 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which provide the international definition of refugees. In signing, Canada undertook to protect refugees who find themselves outside their country and H O W D O E S C A N A D A M E A S U R E U P ? 101 unable to return to it for fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. The 1951 Geneva Convention set standards that apply to children in the same way as to adults: • a child who has a “well-founded fear of being persecuted” for one of the stated reasons is a “refugee;” • a child who holds refugee status cannot be forced to return to the country of origin (the principle of non-refoulement); • no distinction is made between children and a dults in social welfare and legal rights. Overview of the Refugee Determination Process The United Nations estimates that there are over 30 million refugees and displaced people in the world. 4 Most of these refugees live in temporary situations and few are resettled in another country. In 1996, for example, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees identified 73,650 refugees needing resettlement; by the end of the year only 28,330 of these refugees were resettled. 5 Annually, Canada resettles about 10,000 refugees from overseas and contributes $18 million to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 6 While there “is no established international measure to determine the extent to which Canada should be providing resettlement,” 7 Canada selects large numbers in comparison to other countries 8 and maintains an annual resettlement quota. People selected from overseas for resettlement in Canada can be either government-assisted refugees or privatelysponsored refugees. The Private Sponsorship Program is “unique to Canada in allowing private groups to sponsor refugees from overseas above and beyond the government program.” 9 Canada has a strong network of organizations across the country to assist in a refugee’s settlement, adaptation and integration. 10 When a Convention refugee is selected for resettlement in Canada, he or she is usually settled with his/her family.
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THE UNCONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF T
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C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F
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articles 13, 14 and 15 (cont’d)
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article 23 (cont’d) NEEDS DIALOGU
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article 28 and 29 (cont’d) NEEDS
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Article 13 The Right to Freedom of
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(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; a
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Promoting the Freedoms C A N A D I
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Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
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Page 52 and 53: C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F
Page 54 and 55: Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
Page 68 and 69: Coalition Questionnaire: C A N A D
Page 76 and 77: Bibliography Children with Disabili
Page 96 and 97: Title of Act Years of compulsory ed
Page 98 and 99: Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
Page 108 and 109: Benefit of the Doubt C A N A D I A
Page 110 and 111: Visa Restrictions C A N A D I A N C
Page 112 and 113: Timeliness of the Process C A N A D
Page 114 and 115: Lack of appeal mechanism C A N A D
Page 122 and 123: Process and Protocols PROCESS: Key
Page 130 and 131: Positive Factor C A N A D I A N C O
Page 132 and 133: Concern C A N A D I A N C O A L I T
Page 140: This is aproject of the CanadianCoa
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Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

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