1. Who is a Refugee?
Einstein was a refugee: when his books were thrown into Hitler's bonfires, and as a German Jew, Einstein was accused of treason.
Nazi party and anti-Semitism made it increasingly difficult for him to work and in 1932 he took up the offer of a post at Princeton. He became a citizen of the United States. 1

2. A Refugee is a person who
Is outside his or her own country
Has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of:
race,
religion,
nationality,
political opinion or
membership in a particular social group.
cannot return home or is afraid to do so.
The rights of refugees are protected in International law under the 1951 Convention Relating to the status of Refugees. Countries like Canada who sign the convention are obligated to protect the rights of refugees who arrive in their country. 2

3. Refugee, Migrant, Displaced Person, Asylum Seeker?
Forced to flee a country due to persecution
Internally displaced:
Forced to flee but does not cross a border to leave their country
Asylum seeker:
A refugee who is seeking protection, but no country has ‘determined’ whether or not the person meets the definition of a refugee
Migrant :
A person who moves, usually voluntarily, to live or work, either temporarily or permanently. May or may not cross a border.
Refugee: rights are protected by 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
Internally displaced: may also be at risk of persecution but the Refugee Convention does not apply
Asylum Seeker: until there is a formal process which determines they are NOT a refugee; they are considered a refugee and are protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention
Migrant: some migrants are forced to move for life and death reasons (extreme poverty; environmental degradation (drought), but they are not considered refugees unless they also face persecution. 3

4. How Do Refugees Come to Canada?
1. Resettlement:
refugees usually are referred to Canada by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
They become landed immigrants upon arrival in Canada
They may be assisted by the government or private sponsors
2. Spontaneous Arrivals (Refugee Claimants)
People travel to Canada and make a refugee claim upon arrival in Canada.
They go through a refugee determination process to determine if they are convention refugees.
If successful they are allowed to apply to become permanent residents
If not successful they are required to leave Canada.
Canada’s 2014 resettlement commitment
4,000 Iraqis out of the Middle East by 2015, toward an overall commitment of 20,000 Iraqis;
1,000 Bhutanese out of Nepal by 2015, toward an overall commitment of 6,500 Bhutanese;
5,000 refugees out of Turkey between 2013 and 2018 (mostly Iraqis and Iranians in the short term, to be followed by Syrians);
200 Syrian out of Lebanon and Jordan, in 2013 and 2014;
900 Colombians out of Ecuador between 2014 and 2017;
4,000 Eritreans out of Eastern Sudan and Ethiopia between 2014 and 2019; and
2,500 Congolese out of Tanzania and Burundi between 2015 and 2018.
In 2014, 13,600 refugee claims were made in Canada; almost half of these claims are accepted.
Canada received 20,223 refugee claims in 2012 but the number dropped to 10,356 in 2013 after the law was changed.
The main refugee claimant source countries in 2014 were China, Pakistan, Hungary, Colombia, Syria, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Haiti.
This power point does not describe the concerns of Refugee Claimants in Canada 4

5. Is Canada Refugee Friendly? (yes and no) yes
sponsorships/resettlement: Canada normally resettles 10% of all refugees identified by UNHCR .
In 2012 The three major countries of resettlement were: the United States (53,053 persons departed), Australia (5,079), and Canada (4,755).  
Private Sponsors resettled an additional 6-7,000 individuals
Settlement – integration programs
Inland refugee determination process
Private sponsors can also include groups of five Canadians or residents who with the permission of the government undertake resettlement responsibilities.
The Canadian government funds community service providers across Canada who provide settlement services to refugees and immigrants who are new to Canada
Canada provides access to an independent quasi-judicial process (the Immigration and Refugee Board) for refugee claims to be heard by refugees who spontaneously arrive in our country. 5

6. Canada’s Resettlement of Refugees
Canada has gone from highs of 40,000 in 1980, (SE Asia) and 35,000 in1989 (Kosovo) to approximately 14,000. The division between government sponsorship and private sponsorship has also shifted. Since private sponsors have been responsible for the majority of those who were resettled. The current commitment to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees now shifts the major responsibility for sponsorship back to the government. 6

7. Is Canada refugee friendly? (no)
We are improving
Visa restrictions
Safe 3rd country with USA
Shorter time frames to make a refugee claim
List of so called ‘safe’ countries of origin (shorter time frames for refugee hearings)
Detention with limited review for refugees who are ‘irregular arrivals’ (arrive in a group with the aid of smugglers)
Slow overseas processing of files for family reunification
Most of these points apply to refugee claimants
Canada has imposed visas on every refugee producing country in the world; this makes it hard for refugees to travel to Canada to make a refugee claim
Refugees who pass through the United States to Canada are not permitted entry to Canada and must make a refugee claim in the United States. There are exceptions for those with family ties in Canada
Changes were made to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2012, which gave refugees less time to make their refugee claim; introduced the “safe” country list, and increased the ability of the government to detain refugees.
Refugees from DCOs are put through the refugee claim process more quickly than other refugees (30-45 days as opposed to 60 days)
Some families wait up to 3 years to be reunited in Canada 7

8. Refugees in the World Today
Number of forcibly displaced worldwide: Almost 60 million (59.5 million)
Number of Refugees
There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of UNHCR, around 2.9 million more than in 2013.
The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
That’s one in every 122 people worldwide
Half in Asia and some 28 per cent in Africa.
They live in widely varying conditions, from well-established camps and collective centres to makeshift shelters or living in the open. More than half live in urban areas. They all face three possible solutions: repatriation; local integration or resettlement.
2014: Almost 60 million forcibly displaced people around the world
19.5 million refugees
40 million internally displaced
One in every 122 people world wide 8

9. Where are Syrians?
7.6 million displaced inside Syria. Almost 50% of all Syrians have been displaced.
95% or 4.5 million Syrian refugees are living mainly in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey. And Egypt.
The UNHCR refers less than 1% of all the world’s refugees for resettlement in other countries
Approximately 30 countries in the world receive refugees referred by the UNHCR
The UNHCR so far has received commitments for the resettlement of a total of 107,000 Syrian refugees from countries such as Australia, Norway, Germany, United States, Canada 9

10. What is the rest of the world Doing?
More than One million refugees entered Europe in More than half from Syria and Iraq
Many European countries now are working to limit numbers. New border controls between EU members and border walls and fences at front line states
EU members approved a €3-billion fund in 2016 for Turkey to improve living conditions for refugees in exchange for promise people do not migrate to Europe.
Gulf Arab states' : Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates officially have taken NO Syrian refugees. (they have provided $$ to neighbouring countries to support refugees
Other high income countries including Russia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea have also offered zero resettlement places
at least 3,600 migrants have died trying to reach Europe in 2015
Germany has pledged 39,987 places for Syrian refugees through its humanitarian admission programme and individual sponsorship; about 54% of the EU total.
Germany and Serbia together have received 57% Syrian asylum applications in Europe between April 2011 and July 2015
Excluding Germany and Sweden, the remaining 26 EU countries have pledged around 30,903 resettlement places, or around 0.7% of the Syrian refugee population in the main host countries
There are more than 54,000 Syrians living in Qatar
UAE has reported it has 100,000 Syrians with work visas,
Saudi Arabia claims to have 2.5 million Syrians on work visas. 10

11. What is Canada Doing?
UNHCR has identified 450,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees in need of resettlement
Between January 2014 and August 2015, Canada resettled about 2,400 Syrian refugees.
The newly elected government pledged to admit:
10,000 Syrians by the end of December 2015 (2,000 Government and 8,000 Private)
15,000 more by the end of February 2016 (13,000 Government and 2,000 Private)
10,000 more Government by end of December 2016
Aid to the region: $950 million
To date committed $950 million to region (DFAIT)
Will match donations from Canadians to registered charities up to $100 million by Feb
Since January 2012, Canada has committed $653.5 million in international humanitarian assistance
$233.3 million to support development projects
$82.91 million in security-related assistance 11

12. How Does Canada compare to other resettlement countries?
In total, 162,151 resettlement places have been offered globally since the start of the Syria crisis, which equates to a mere 3.6% of the total population of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey.
This does NOT include the numbers of refugees who spontaneously arrive and request protection
Brazil announced in Sept 2013 that it would issue special humanitarian visas for Syrians who wished to seek refuge in Brazil
Australia has committed to resettle 5,800 Syrian refugees
Sweden took in 163,000 asylum seekers last year, the most per capita in Europe. However, authorities are preparing to expel 60,000 to 80,000 of them because their applications for asylum have been rejected.
UNHCR has submitted 22,427 Syrian refugees to the United States of America for resettlement consideration. USA agreed to resettle 100,000 refugees from all regions by Normal annual cap of 70, So far the USA has taken in only about 1,500 Syrian refugees 12

13. Previous Refugee Responses of Canada
37,000 Hungarian refugees fled to Canada after the Soviets crushed the Hungarian Uprising of 1956
Over 110,000 refugees from Indochina, known as the “boat” people, were resettled in Canada between 1975 to 1985 (60,000 between 1979 and 1985)
In 1999, more than 7,300 Kosovars were resettled in Canada following the Kosovo War. Government set up an information Hotline and processed application from within canada.
In 2009, Ottawa pledged to resettle 20,000 Iraqi refugees. (This number is frequently included when the government reports on it’s response to Syrian refugees)
Humanitarian measures followed the 2010 earthquake in Haiti (not refugees)
Expedition of visas to reunite families from the Philippines following Typhoon (not refugees)
As of September 2, 2015, Canada has resettled 22,405 Iraqi refugees since 2009. 13

14. What is Amnesty International Doing? European Union
SOS Campaign for past two years
Calling on EU leaders to rapidly and significantly strengthen emergency reception capacity in first countries of arrival;
Participate fully in emergency relocation plans by welcoming its fair share of the refugees
Commit to fixing the EU’s broken asylum system, including through increasing resettlement places, 14

15. What is Amnesty International Doing? Research
On the ground research missions in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Hungary and Croatia. Documenting violations and making recommendations calling for action. 15

16. What Is Amnesty International Doing? In Canada
We are calling for:
Government leaders to use language which respects refugees
Maintain a strong resettlement program for refugees from ALL countries
Fair policies for refugees who make claims for asylum from inside Canada
Speedy reunification of refugee families
Keep the promise to restore health care for refugees 16

17. What Can you do?
Support Amnesty International’s call on Canada to keep it’s door open to refugees
Educate yourself! Learn about refugee rights in Canada
Challenge negative stereotypes about refugees
Share your concerns about refugees with your Member of Parliament
Welcome refugees in your community 17