Canada’s announcement that it will impose visa requirements effective a minute after midnight Tuesday on the top two sources of refugee claimants — Mexico and the Czech Republic — prompted a quick and dissatisfied reaction from those countries.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Monday that many of the asylum requests are either rejected or abandoned, raising questions about the legitimacy of the claimants’ allegations that they face persecution in their home countries.
The vast majority of the Czechs seeking asylum are from that country’s Roma minority, which has faced a long history of racism and persecution according to various international human-rights organizations.
Paul St. Clair, executive director of the Roma Community Centre in Toronto, said the asylum claims are genuine, as shown by the high acceptance rate from the Immigration and Refugee Board, and that there is an element of discrimination at play in the Canadian government’s decision.
"What other country do we retaliate against like this? It has something to do with the fact that these claimants are Roma," he said.
St. Clair suggested the Czech government may go to the European Union to seek retaliatory measures against Canada for the new visa requirement. If Canada requires a visa from the Czech Republic, a member of the EU, then Canadians may need a visa for all EU countries, he said.
The Czech Republic had complained already about rumours of Monday’s announcement. Once it was confirmed, the embassy in Ottawa swiftly issued a statement in response.
"The Czech authorities perceive this decision as one-sided on the part of Canada and inadequate and unfriendly in the context of the long-term good relations between the two democratic countries," the statement said.
Thousands of Czech tourists will be affected by the decision, the statement read, and the Czech government is holding a special meeting Tuesday to discuss "appropriate measures to be taken."
Mexico’s embassy in Canada was also quick to respond, saying in a statement that the government of Mexico "regrets the decision" and that "channels of collaboration remain open."
"Mexico will continue to promote actions toward modifying the Canadian measure as soon as possible," it said.
The new visa requirements stipulate that residents of the Czech Republic and Mexico will have to apply for temporary resident visas in order to visit, study or work in Canada.
Extra staff have been hired to process applications at Canada’s embassy in Mexico City and the Canadian government also intends to fund three new visa application centres, Kenney said.
Czech citizens however, have to send their applications to Canada’s embassy in Vienna, Austria, which the Czech government said in its statement "is not acceptable."
The immigration minister said the visa requirements will reduce the burden on Canada’s refugee system.
"In addition to creating significant delays and spiralling new costs in our refugee program, the sheer volume of these claims is undermining our ability to help people fleeing real persecution," Kenney said in a statement.
The government will permit a grace period, ending at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, for travellers already in transit.
"The visa requirement I am announcing will give us a greater ability to manage the flow of people into Canada and verify bona fides," said Kenney, who is attempting to reform Canada’s backlogged refugee determination system.
"By taking this important step toward reducing the burden on our refugee system, we will be better equipped to process genuine refugee claims faster," he said.
The number of Mexican refugee claimants has almost tripled since 2005, rising from 3,400 to 9,400 in 2008, when Mexicans made up one-quarter of all asylum requests, the government said in a statement.
In the first half of 2009, there were more than 5,500 Mexican claims, compared with roughly 3,700 over the first six months of 2008.
The Immigration and Refugee Board reviewed 5,654 Mexican claims last year and accepted 606.
"In 2009, the number of claims has increased, while the acceptance rate has decreased further still," said the government statement.
The acceptance rate is much higher for Czech claimants, at roughly 40 per cent. But the news release from Kenney, who has questioned whether that country could be an "island of intolerance" in Europe, still raises legitimacy questions.
"The relatively higher acceptance rate of refugee claims originating in the Czech Republic masks the troubling fact that more than half of the claims are abandoned or withdrawn before a final decision is made by the Immigration and Refugee Board," he said.
The Conservative government lifted the visa requirement on Czech citizens in late 2007 despite warnings of a repeat of what followed a similar decision in the mid-1990s, when there was a flood of Roma claimants before the visa rule was re-imposed.
Roma began arriving at the Toronto international airport almost immediately, with 840 claims filed in 2008 compared to five in 2006. Almost 3,000 claims were filed since the decision, more than half in the first four months of this year.
Immigration critics for the federal Liberals and NDP both slammed the Conservatives’ announcement.
"The Conservatives now run the risk of erecting new hurdles to legitimate travel for one of our NAFTA partners, with serious economic consequences for Canada," said Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua. "Canada just recorded its first trade deficit in 30 years under this government — now is not the time to be building new firewalls around Canada."
Toronto immigration lawyer Max Berger said the move does not reflect well on Canada.
"To re-introduce this visa requirement, it really tarnishes our reputation in the international community with respect to refugee protection because we are slamming the door on genuine refugees," he said.
Via Calgary Herald
July 14th, 2009 |