Iraq and Refugee Law

Presentation Notes: Donald Galloway at

Responding in Iraq: Mobilizing our Community for Humanitarian Action

University of Victoria, April 16, 2003

(This draft text was prepared for verbal delivery. Please do not cite or quote this text without permission of the author.)

Refugee laws in industrial countries offer a tantalizing beacon for those who face intolerable conditions in their country of origin, coaxing them to put themselves (and their life savings) in the hands of people smugglers who transport them to countries where they have a right to make a refugee claim. The guarantee of a fair hearing to determine whether they face a well-founded fear of persecution, the possibility of not being returned to the country of origin plus some promise of permanent status, makes the option of going abroad much more appealing than an indefinite stay in a refugee camp, eking out a living in a neighbouring country or continued residence in the country of origin.

However, it is clearly not an option that is available to all refugees.

Prior to the war there were 203,000 Iraqi refugees in Iran many of whom had been there for over two decades, 700,000 internally displaced according to the US Committee for Refugees (see www.refugees.org,) and large numbers of Iraqis living on the margins in Jordan and Turkey. There are still over 5000 refugees in a refugee camp in Rafha Saudi Arabia who fled there 12 years ago during the Gulf War.( See Amnesty International website) 25,000 people from this camp have been resettled in other countries. I will say a few words about the process of resettlement at the end of this presentation, but I want to begin by focusing on the situation of asylum seekers- those who make their way to a country from which they seek protection

As revealed in a UNHCR report published last month, there have been approximately 50,000 Iraqis a year making claims in 37 industrialized countries. Of the total of 580,000 claims made from every country, this formed the largest source.

However, the beacon of foreign shelter is beginning to flicker and becoming more of a mirage in countries that have historically provided assistance to those who have provided asylum. Before looking at Canada it is worthwhile to look at events elsewhere;

In Australia: Establishment of brutal camps, the worst of which have been recently closed.

    • The interdiction of boats on the high seas, and the redescription of the country's boundaries.
    • Also the grant of only temporary status, with the Australian Minister now talking about sending Iraqis on temporary permits back. The government has identified these policies as a huge success in deterring so-called illegal migrants from coming to Australia. A 50% decrease in those seeking asylum in 2002 since the previous year – from 12,000 down to 6000, of whom only 175 were from Iraq.
    • Courts attacking government's policy of indefinite detention of those failed refugee claimants who cannot be returned to country of origin
    • The interdiction of boats on the high seas, and the redescription of the country's boundaries.

    • Also the grant of only temporary status, with the Australian Minister now talking about sending Iraqis on temporary permits back. The government has identified these policies as a huge success in deterring so-called illegal migrants from coming to Australia. A 50% decrease in those seeking asylum in 2002 since the previous year – from 12,000 down to 6000, of whom only 175 were from Iraq.

    • Courts attacking government's policy of indefinite detention of those failed refugee claimants who cannot be returned to country of origin

In USA:

    • Operation Liberty Shield has come into play, a policy of the new department of Homeland Security – automatic detention of asylum seekers from 33 countries. (This despite an Article in refugee convention disallowing discrimination

    • Also over 6 million illegals in US Under a new system of special registration those from various countires must register. Instead they are fleeing to Canada to make refugee claim

    • Should be noted that there is a deadline of one year on making asylum claim in US (after which one cannot make a claim)

Postscript: Announced on March 17 that US officials will lay criminal charges against refugees arriving with false documents!

And in UK: Battles between courts and government in relation to welfare and housing benefits for refugee climants;

    • Proposal of establishing refugee camps in Albania Russia Ukraine rather than allow claimants to stay in UK..

    • Nevertheless the bulk of Iraqi asylum seekers head for UK – 15,000 last year.

Generally across the world there are a number of themes that combine to bolster an anti-asylum attitude:

Criminality: The concern with smuggling. No distinction between human trafficking and smuggling

Criminality: exclusion and removal: in a post war situation (Afghanistan and now Iraq) belief promoted by the media that it is the human rights abusers that are seeking asylum

Terrorism: Post September 11 emphasis on documentation that may be difficult to obtain

Delay, and inefficiency and costs of determination process

 

Recent developments in Canada: On the one hand the law is extending the promise of protection to cover those who face torture or cruel and unusual treatment in their country of origin by broadening of the definition of a protected person.

However this positive step is counterbalanced by a number of measures that render the promise somewhat illusory:

  • Use of Visas and other methods to keep refugee claimants away.
  • Unwillingness to respond to claims from those who are being forced to register in the US. Directing back individuals who are fleeing the crackdown in the United States
  • USA Safe Third Country Agreement. By placing barriers at the border the Government will be encouraging illegal crossing across the border.
  • Greater use of Detention: used against individualized who already may have been traumatized
  • Proposed disbandment of the Refugee Protection Division of the IRB (an independent tribunal) to transfer the job to civil servants
  • Increased involvement of Minister's lawyers in the Refugee Protection Division process, who are giving a more adversarial tone to the proceedings by attacking credibility of claimants, rather than allowing board members to inquire into credibility issues

Last year only 235 refugee claimants from Iraq arrived in Canada

It should be noted that there are wide disparities in determinations of Iraqi claims in different countries. 84% positive in US, 64% in Canada 44% in UK

Overseas Determination:

Refugees who are selected overseas as immigrants must show that they will be able to successfully establish themselves in Canada (unless they are seen as as being in urgent need of protection or as "vulnerable". They will only be resettled in Canada if there is no reasonable prospect of a durable solution in their country of origin.

One can ask how high a priority are refugees in our immigration process. On the one hand since 1991 Canada is second only to the United States in the number of resettled Iraqis brought to Canada as immigrants (12,220 since 1991) However, annual intake may be slipping, and it is questionable whether the planned quotas for both government sponsored and privately sponsored refugees will be met.

Suggested websites: www.unhcr.ch

www.ccrweb.ca (Canadian Council for Refugees)

 

 

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