[PSRList] FW: Family Reunification Campaign for Refugee Rights Day

Melissa Scott mscott at rstp.ca
Mon Mar 20 20:19:29 UTC 2017


Dear Sponsors,

We would like to share with you a message from Jennifer Stone, a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) Executive and lawyer at Neighborhood Legal Services.

Please read below for details on CCR's activities planned around the upcoming Refugee Rights Day (April 4th, 2017), with a focus on family reunification.

________________________________

Hello,

I write as a member of the Executive of the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), to tell you about a campaign being planned around Refugee Rights Day (April 4th) with a focus on family reunification. The main message of the campaign is that "all families have equal value." You can find more information here: http://ccrweb.ca/en/family-reunification.

We hope that CCR members and allies will use this campaign to highlight in their networks and with their MPs a number of inequities, namely around processing times per family reunification stream and visa office.  We also want to specifically highlight how there is inequity by virtue of law: namely, how section 117(9)(d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations provides that if, at the time of immigrating, an individual does not have his/her dependents examined, they are forever barred from reuniting in Canada.

This regulation was allegedly introduced to combat "fraud"; however the CCR has supported recent research that shows that over 90% of the refused family reunification cases challenged in the Federal Court had no material misrepresentation (the closest thing to "fraud" in the immigration law).

Also, the research reveals that refugees are disproportionately affected by this regulation: while refugees represent only 9% of newcomers to Canada each year, about 20% of all family class sponsors whose applications were rejected because of Regulation 117(9)(d) originally came to Canada as refugees. (And by comparison, obviously all One Year Window applicants for family reunification similarly caught by the excluded family member rule came as refugees).

In many cases, individuals fail to disclose their family members because of misinformation; concerns around further delaying the long processing of their applications; cultural or gender-based stigma; apprehension about asking private sponsors to raise additional funds - but rarely to hide an inadmissible family member or dishonestly gain some kind of benefit.

The CCR takes the position that the government has a number of other effective tools to combat misrepresentation, and accordingly that Regulation 117(9)(d) ought to be repealed. In working to achieve the repeal of this regulation, we are taking a number of steps including publishing an upcoming academic article setting out the research described above, lobbying the government, and raising awareness in the broader community.

We believe that you, as Sponsorship Agreement Holders and private sponsors, have a unique perspective of this problem. We are looking to identify as many cases of individuals affected by this Regulation as possible, and if possible, individuals who would be willing to be identified and featured in our advocacy efforts. If you think you might be able to help us identify an affected person, please contact me so that we can discuss it further.

Best regards,

Jennifer Stone
Staff Lawyer

Neighbourhood Legal Services
333 Queen St. East
Toronto, ON
M5A 1S9
Tel: 416-861-0677 x708
Fax: 416-861-1777
www.nlstoronto.org<http://www.nlstoronto.org>

________________________________

You may contact Jennifer using the contact information found above for further information and/or to share case details.

Best regards,

Melissa


Melissa Scott | RSTP Trainer - National
Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP)
Catholic Crosscultural Services | 55 Town Centre Court, Suite 401, Scarborough, ON  M1P 4X4
Tel: 416-290-1700<tel:416-290-1700> ext. 405 |Toll-free: 1-877-290-1701<tel:1-877-290-1701> | Fax: 416-290-1710<mailto:416-290-1710> | mscott at rstp.ca<mailto:mscott at rstp.ca> | www.rstp.ca

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