Special Events June 26: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Nancy Elliot began the discussion by presenting on the refugee determination system in Canada. She noted three trends becoming evident in Canada's immigration system. The preoccupation in Canada and North America with security and the problem of terrorism, and how this has impacted on the refugee determination system and how refugees are treated when they come to our borders. A clear association has been made between refugees and terrorists in the media. However, refugees are fleeing precisely what the Canadian government is trying to protect themselves from. According to the UNHCR, refugees are becoming more and more at risk of re-victimization; that it is more likely to happen in today's climate and states are increasingly concerned that terrorists may use the refugee system to gain access to counties. Thus, we see an increase in detention - in the US, it is summary detention, while Canada is busy building new detention centres. The practical impacts of this trend is in how the numbers of refugees and other newcomers have changed; becoming significantly lower as the freezing of resettlement occurred post September 11. A revitalization of talks moving from specific individualized refugee determination systems to a more generalized approach, where life and death decisions can be made by a bureaucrat overseas, rather than allowing refugees access to due process. Interdiction aimed at keeping people out. For example, Canada positions officers at airports in other countries for screening, thus preventing people from accessing Canadian territory and impeding their right to claim asylum. For their part, the US also practices ocean interdictions. In addition, the Canadian government fines airlines for transporting individuals with false or invalid documents if that person has not been found to be a refugee. These are some of the measures used to deny access to our system. While the Canadian refugee system is lauded in other countries of the world, Elliot questioned what use is a system, however good, if one can't even access it. As an example, she used the new Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the US, where large numbers of asylum seekers will be forced back into the States to make their claims, as America is deemed "safe", despite its use of mandatory detention and generally lower standards of protection than Canada. In 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) passed in Canada. While there are definite problems with the Act, Nancy pointed out that there are some positive developments as well. For example, the introduction of the concept of a person in need of protection rather than strictly adhering to Convention Refugee criteria. In addition to claiming as a Convention Refugee, there is also a wider concept, based on consolidated grounds, where an individual can apply for protection and be able to have a hearing. These grounds include: risk of torture risk to life or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment On the negative side, the Refugee Appeals Division (RAD) was passed but never implemented. This means that refugees currently cannot appeal negative decisions unless they apply for a leave for judicial review, something that is not often granted. The RAD was supposed to be different - a real appeal - but it has been canceled. The Pre-Removal Risk Assessment is also not very effective, and it still has exclusion and cessation clauses as before the Act was passed. Prior to this Act, the IRB had a duty to consider the grounds of risk to torture, but with the new separated consolidated grounds, fear of torture no longer has to be connected to Convention grounds. Elliot noted that the IRB is currently working through decisions based on consolidated grounds, and it appears that there is a developing awareness that it doesn't have to be connected to the Convention. Elliot ended her presentation with some lowering statistics: Of the 4,600 Pre-Removal Risk Assessments done in 2002, only 67 were approved. In 2002, there were 78,500 refugees and asylum seekers in Canada, with 15,200 accepted. 10,400 refugees were settled from overseas. 33,400 applied for asylum, representing a 25% drop from 2001 The overall grant rate in Canada was 58%.