ГУЛаг Палестины

national in Canada to his or her removal following a negative decision will be fair

and faster.

Protection of unaccompanied minors

While the legislative package honours Canada's international commitments to

protect the best interests of the child, the security and safety of unprotected

minors arriving as part of a criminally organized smuggling or trafficking operation is

a major concern.

These children are vulnerable to exploitation and coercion by the traffickers; in

these cases, detention is truly a last resort and this is stipulated in the Act. The

Government of Canada will make every effort to make arrangements with provincial

social services to protect these children effectively, while seeking to ensure that

they are not deprived of education and other basic needs.

2001-03

Backgrounder # 5

A Fair, Faster, More Effective Refugee

Determination Process

Front-end security screening of all refugee claimants

In the current system, security and background checks are initiated only once an

individual has had a refugee claim accepted and has applied for permanent resident

status. In the new system, security screening will be initiated for all claimants at

the time the claim is submitted. Greater coordination between domestic and

international agencies will improve the timeliness of security information.

Faster referrals to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)

The legislation will speed up this process by clarifying grounds of eligibility and

automatically referring all eligible claims to the IRB within 3 working days.

Consolidated assessment of protection grounds at the IRB

Currently, assessment of the grounds for protection is handled in several stages,

one at the IRB and the others at Citizenship and Immigration (CIC). The new

system will consolidate these grounds in one risk assessment during a single

hearing process at the IRB. The grounds for assessment of risk are: Geneva

Convention on Refugees, risk of torture (Convention Against Torture), and risk to

life and/or cruel and unusual punishment. These grounds are not new; they are

merely being brought together from several current steps into one.

Use of single-member panels as the norm at the IRB

Currently, two-member panels hear refugee cases at the IRB, and in the majority of

cases the decisions are unanimous. The process will be made more efficient by

the use of single-member panels as the norm.

Greater use of Ministerial interventions

The Minister (by delegated authority to her officials) will have the right to intervene

at IRB hearings to present security information or other data pertinent to the case.

Greater coordination between domestic and international agencies will improve the

timeliness and accuracy of information.

Paper review on merit to be introduced

To ensure consistency in decision-making and fairness to all refugee claimants, a

paper review on merit may be conducted by a division of the IRB. This step is

intended to ensure fairness and reduce the number of protracted applications for

leave for judicial review by the Federal Court.

Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)

In keeping with Canada's international commitment not to repatriate people who

would face risk upon return, the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) will be

provided on the same consolidated protection grounds, and coordinated with CIC

removal priorities. Pursuant to the Geneva Convention, serious criminals, security

risks, and members of organized crime groups will be excluded from consideration

of refugee protection grounds. Their PRRA will be limited to risk of torture and cruel

and unusual punishment.

Linking the PRRA and the removal process will allow for expeditious -yet fair -

treatment of all removal cases. This will ensure that no one will be sent to a

situation of risk to life or cruel and unusual punishment in their country of

nationality.

Six month bar on repeat claims

If a person returns to Canada after removal, they will not be allowed to reapply for

refugee status for six months following removal. Prior to the six months, previously

refused claimants would continue to have the option of seeking protection at any

Canadian mission abroad. Persons who return to Canada after six months may

apply for a pre-removal risk assessment but they are not able to re-access the

refugee protection system of the IRB.

Criminals will be barred from the Refugee Protection System

The new Legislation clarifies inadmissibility criteria to ensure that serious

criminals, terrorists, human rights violators and security risks will be barred from

access to the refugee determination system and promptly removed from Canada.

Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research

P.O. Box 234

Lawson, New South Wales 2783

Australia

Phone: +61 (0)2-4758-6822

URL: www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr

Although the above materials are highly recommended by CAFMR, we do not necessarily share all the views expressed by the authors.