Recent Publications: Refugee Rights

Ten federal candidates presented their policies to voters on Saturday in Kelowna. Jules Knox reports.

Upholding Refugee Rights CPJ envisions a world in which individuals, societal institutions and governments all contribute to and benefit from the common good. We strive to bring about public justice and promote human rights. This framework is particularly imperative when working on issues that surround the treatment of refugees. All refugees are immigrants, but not…

In its spring budget, the Ontario government cut Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) funding by $133 million and said it will no longer provide provincial funds for refugee and immigration cases. LAO is mandated to promote access to justice for refugee claimants among other vulnerable Ontarians. The cuts would mean that claimants would have been denied…

Access to justice, particularly for the most vulnerable persons in society, is a key issue in policy debates in Canada. Refugees are persons who have fled from traumatizing circumstances and need the legal system to facilitate the establishment of their refugee claims. Photo by witwiccan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

The Trump administration announced new immigration rules ending asylum protections for almost all migrants who arrive at the US-Mexico border. The changes are likely to have a domino effect on Canada with which the US signed the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) in 2004. It is time for Canada, as a world leader in refugee rights protection, to end the STCA.

Thousands of black Africans are fleeing armed conflict, persecution or severe economic hardship hoping to reach Europe for better lives. Their journey usually begins with a trek through deserts to Libya. Then, they proceed for the Mediterranean Sea on unseaworthy boats to Europe. However, many of them end up in overcrowded detention centers, run by smugglers, where they are traded as slaves.

There is an access to justice crisis affecting people in Canada especially those who are most vulnerable. We must raise our voices.

Refugee rights are one of five main themes addressed by Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), “a national organization of members inspired by faith to act for justice in Canadian public policy.

This week, CBC News released results of their pre-election online survey, in which the opinions of 4,500 Canadians were sought out. The most notable findings of the survey were that 76 per cent of the respondents agreed that Canada should do more to encourage skilled labourers (through the immigration system’s economic stream) to immigrate to the…

As climate change continues to affect growing regions of the world—threatening to create as many as 200 million environmental migrants by the year 2050—Canada’s immigration policy must address the issue of environmental displacement.