1. Int’l Law – Organizations + Refugees
Sources: - Many listed in the note
Understanding the Law 1996
Dimensions of Law 2004

2. Nongovernmental Organizations
What is an NGO?
Human rights are monitored and advocated for by many NGOs globally
Human rights violations are measured by three factors:
Scope – nature or severity of abuse. This measure addresses the qualitative factor (whipping is less severe than public execution)
Intensity – number of time the abuse has occurred within defined time. Regular occurrence vs. isolated incident? Quantitative measure.
Range – size of the group whose rights are being violated – Larger the group, the worse the abuse

3. Amnesty International
Amnesty International – works to uncover HR violations across the globe
Uses aggressive letter writing campaigns and exposes violations to the UN General Assembly/ HR Committee – very effective!
How do you think social media can influence or support NGO’s like Amnesty International?
Puts a name/face to the victims – adds to effect and puts more pressure on governments that violate HR
Can you name a few other NGOs that specifically deal with human rights?
Safiya Hashi v. The State of Somalia
What is Habeas Corpus? Look it up!!

4. International Migration/Movement
Difficult to track sometimes…
People leaving Greece…
People leaving Syria…
Why do people leave? What to do with these people without passports, jobs, money?
International Obligations?

6. Nationality
The link between a person and his/her state – determines which state is responsible for which people (NOT citizenship)
Canada owns you (is responsible for you)…and can protect you aboard if a HR violation occurs
International law gives you the right to basic human rights globally – Canada can act if this doesn’t happen
A country could split up, or nationality taken away due to serious crimes/treason
Might also renounce nationality to avoid military service
Stateless – meaning you cannot legally enter/leave a country – no one is responsible for you..
What are the implications of being stateless?
UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1978) – sought to reduce this issue – default state would be that of birth
Important to note that it is up to the state to determine criteria for nationality (Int’l Law insists on a link between granting nationality and the person receiving it)

7. Asylum
This involves State B protecting nationals from State A because of fear of harm – People from State A would be seeking Political Asylum (must get to embassy, convince them to grant asylum, and leave through diplomatic channels)
Not very likely – many complications… State A doesn’t have to let you leave, they just cant get you inside the embassy…
Territorial Asylum – the offering of permanent settlement and granting nationality by one state to individuals/groups of another state
Often the result of mass migration due to civil war/human rights violations
Would citizens fleeing Syria (or Greece) meet this definition of Territorial Asylum? Potential issues of offering nationality to a large group?

8. Refugees
A refugee is someone who is fleeing his/her country due to a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or social/political group”
National courts decide what a “well-founded fear of being persecuted” is
What do you think it is?
Countries can refuse entry to refugees at the boarder, but once a refugee is inside the country, the country must treat them as nationals and allow them to seek legal admission (Article of the Convention Relating to the Status of refugees 1951)
Important to note that not everyone “qualifies” as a refugee – they must seek immigration through normal means, go back to their country or seek help at relief camps (often set of by NGOs during mass migrations)

9. Refugees in Canada
They have rights coming into Canada – The Charter of Rights/Freedoms in in effect for ALL people in Canada
They can work and children can go to school while their application for refugee status is under review
Canadian Law has adopted the Convention 1951 in the Immigration Act and Charter

10. Take a look! Protecting refugees – UN Refugee Agency
Chicago Tribune

11. Your turn! Difference between Nationality and Citizenship?
What issues arise from mass migration?
What is Canada doing for Syrian refugees? Pros and cons?

12. R v Hape – implications for human rights and the Charter?