Refugee Protection In Canada As Basis Of Immigration

Lexlords Canada Immigration Lawyers

30 Sept 2020 7:03 PM IST

  • Refugee Protection In Canada As Basis Of Immigration

    No one wants to leave their native place but when the protection of yourself and your family is concerned, then you need to make certain compromises. If a country you were born into or live in does not guarantee you and your family safety, then can you live in such a fear? The Case of Siberia is something everyone has heard of. How so many people were stranded from their homes in a day and were left with nothing. That is the reason why many people take shelter of another country to save them, protect them, or guard them from unwanted mishappenings and this is how the existence of refugees comes into existence.

    A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Since refugees are those kinds of people who have fled out from their country and to seek some sort of protection when they migrate to another country. It must be noted that a refugee should not be confused with immigration as immigration means a person who wants to settle in another country permanently.

    According to the UN convention of refugees, they are those persons who have a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, nationality, religion, caste, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

    Canada is considered to be one of the tops contenders in respect to the refugee's protection. Canada is one of the countries who acknowledge and one of the active members to follow and execute the guidelines of the Geneva Convention in relation to the protection and status of refugees. And according to the law prevailing in a country like Canada regarding the Immigration and Refugee Protection, an individual who needs insurance is an individual who might be oppressed actually to a peril of torment, a danger to their life, or danger of remorseless and bizarre treatment or discipline on the off chance that they came back to their nation of origin.

    Canada is considered a principal leader regarding the refugee protection, as it has signed a treaty under 1951 Refugee Convention and also other such instruments which preserve the rights to protect and safety of refugees. Each year Canada provides permanent asylum to almost around 30,000 refugees, this indicates that the country supports such kind of protection of the refugees, but of course it has to follow some protocols with some of its reasonable exceptions.

    How can a person seek asylum in Canada?

    According to the law prevailing in a country like Canada regarding immigration and refugee protection, every kind of person who is looking for an entry in Canada either under refugee asylum or by way of immigration needs to appear for an examination regarding the same, which is held at an entry port, this examination decides whether such a person is eligible to enter and seek such asylum in Canada, or as the case may be to enter and remain in Canada, or not.

    So, an individual can claim for asylum under Canada at inland or at an entry port, these entry ports are guarded by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA). Once an individual claims such asylum the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) and the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) office authorities decide whether such an individual is competent enough to make such a claimant or not. There are many factors that are to be considered in deciding the same such as previous criminal records, previous claims in any other country for asylum, previous claims for asylum in Canada, and other competencies required for such a claim. The individuals are asked for proper reasons for such a claim, such as the nature of persecution, or force etc.

    There are two types of asylum seekers who wants to seek entry in a country like Canada, one may be called the asylum claimants and the others may be known as convention refugees:

    The Asylum claimants are the persons in Canada who if removed or forced to leave from their country of nationality or the residence would be subject to possible torture, risk of life and property, etc.

    Conventional refugees, on the other hand, are those people who are unable to seek help from anyone for protection or safety under their own country of nationality or residence due to the fear of being abused there because of any of the factor, and seek asylum in another country. < href="https://lexlords.ca/">Canada Immigration Lawyers</a> help both asylum seekers and refugees to enter Canada.

    The process for asylum of both these claimants are different from each other, in other words, both of these claimants come through different immigration streams or process. The asylum claimants make their claim at an entry port or an inland office such as the CBSA or the IRCC, on the other hand, the conventional refugees complete their security procedure outside Canada, that is to say, abroad, so that their security is checked prior to the issuance of their visa, and on their arrival to Canada they are the permanent residents.

    But regardless of the different procedures all refugee claimants go through the same level of a security check which includes their background relating to their health, criminal activities (if any) etc.

    There can be two results from the application of such claim:

    1. The claim is found to be eligible
    2. The claim is found not to be eligible

    Once the Canada Immigration Centre (CIC) office authority considers that the person who claims for asylum is eligible to be referred, the claim is forwarded to the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) and a hearing takes place before an independent tribunal which consists of members of Refugee Protection Division (RPD) which further decide whether the claimant is a convention refugee or an asylum claimant, this hearing takes place when the applicant's legal counsel and the Government's Refugee Claims officer are attending.

    The individual whose claim is found to be eligible one, and is approved by that person can apply for permanent residence which is a procedure of around 17 to 18 months if come clean.

    If the claim is found to be not an eligible one, such kind of individuals (whose claim is not eligible) will be given a removal order in other words such persons will be required to leave from such a country and such persons may be offered Pre Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) which is conducted by the CBSA and IRCC, the purpose of PRRA is to determine the risk that a person may be in if returned to his country of nationality.

    The IRB takes many things into consideration while rendering eligible a person's claim for asylum, such as the reasons for such claim, alternatives to such claim, etc. and once such claim is eligible such person is given the benefit of education, social assistance, health services, legal aid (through Canada Immigration Lawyers ), while the decision is to be made on the claim as to whether it shall be accepted or not. Such an individual can also apply for a work permit for the time being the decision is pending, as soon as they are clear with their medical. These benefits are funded by some of the Non-Profit Organizations or Municipalities etc.

    After the claim is referred the IRB for hearing, the decision of IRB can result into either of the two things:

    1. Positive decision.
    2. Negative decision.

    If the decision is positive such receives Protected Person Status with a federally funded settlement service, that is to say, services provided by the Government of Canada to aid such claimant holding a positive decision with respect to his claim, And such individual in almost all cases can apply to be a permanent resident in Canada rendering him immigration through the claim of refugees.

    Support services regarding adjustment and settlement to the claimants to the environment of Canada include language assistance, connections, support in finding employment etc.

    The negative decision, on the other hand, can result in the individual seeking for an appeal before the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) or if he has no right to appeal, he can request the Federal Court for review on such a decision. Once all the options for appeal deplete the removal order is enforced, which results in the removal of such individual from Canada. And the people under this removal order are not provided with the services anymore, which were previously available to them, such as health services, social assistance, legal aid etc., and it is the duty of CBSA to make sure of the execution of the removal order. And if anyone fails to appear on the day of the Removal Interview may be arrested, and a Canada-wide arrest the warrant shall be issued against such person regarding the same, and such person will be subject to detention before such removal.

    Considered to be one of the safest Country in the world

    This is kind of an exception the policy of Canada refugee protection services, as Canada has signed an agreement named- The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States (U.S.) entered into force on 29 December 2004, this agreement is regarding the management of refugee claimants at the shared land border, according to this agreement person who claims to seek asylum as a refugee must claim such asylum in the country he first arrives in among the U.S. or Canada, and if such claimant fails to seek such asylum in the country he first arrived the other country will not provide asylum to such claimant, but this agreement also has certain exceptions of its own, such as; if the Claimant had a family member in Canada but arrives first at U.S. or has a valid Canadian visa, or claimant has been charged with an offence which could cause the death penalty to sue claimant on the U.S. soil, etc.

    This type of agreement does not only prevail in Canada and U.S. but agreements of such a nature are being used since The 1980s by various countries, to superscribe pressure on asylum systems and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRA) has always supported such STCAs.

    The STCA plays an important role in Canada's as well as the United States Asylum system. But this agreement does not apply to claimants who do not enter from entry portals.

    Checking of Illegal crossings

    There are also certain illegal or irregular Crossings into the country such as Canada, which can be very dangerous and is in violation of the law of the land as well. There is a need to stop such persons as it might create a risk of a substantial potential threat to the country as well as its fellow citizens which can hamper the safety and security of those people living in such a country whose government has to guarantee their safety with zero tolerance compromise. So in order to avoid and curb such kind of activity, As far as the process in Canada to seek Asylum is concerned, it is mandatory or in fact substantial for a Refugee to undergo a held and security screening which includes biometric checks and biographer quick as well as any of security or criminal related checks so as to make sure that the country is being safe from the persons who are getting in through such routes to migrate.

    In order to live in a safe and peaceful environment, and in order to enhance the standard of living; such asylum seekers come to countries like Canada due to its safety, the protection it guarantees and helps to provide opportunities to their family and making their lives a better place to live in with peace as everyone has a right to live a peaceful and healthy environment and no one can debar such a right from anybody be whatever the reason of. Though a Country has to be responsible for its citizens as the Government in Power work for them, not people working for the government. But, Certain countries like Canada sets an example and a ray of hope for such people to brighten their light with happiness and brotherhood by making them aware to be one.

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