Wednesday, November 27, 2013

JRAN On Canada's Refugee Policy

In the resurrected Canadian Jewish News:

On Dec. 1, the Jewish National Fund will be holding an event to raise funds for the Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor and Education Centre in Israel. The facility itself sounds like a wonderful place to visit and an important and safe refuge for migrating birds. Yet it is ironic that a prime minister who is responsible for making it more difficult for families to find protection in Canada would have this facility named for him. 

Read the whole letter through the link.  Coincidentally, Canada the day this letter was published, The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic (HIRC) released  Bordering on Failure: Canada-U.S. Border Policy and the Politics of Refugee Exclusion.  From the executive summary:

...this report finds that

1.Canada'is'systematically'closing'its'borders'to'asylum'seekers'and'avoiding' its'refugee'protection'obligations'under'domestic'and'international'law;''

2. Through' the' Safe' Third' Country' Agreement,' Canada' jeopardizes' asylum' seekers’'ability'to'obtain'fundamental'legal'protections'by'returning'them' to'the'United'States'despite'clear'deficiencies'in'the'U.S.'asylum'system;''

3. The'Safe'Third'Country'Agreement'has'prompted'a'rise'in'human'smuggling' across' the' CanadaFU.S.' border,' making' the' border' more' dangerous' and'disorderly,'and'raising'security'concerns'for'Canada'and'the'United'States.!!'

So there you have it.

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