Humanitarian, Refugees and Foreign Affairs

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - First flight of Afghans to Canada a ‘relief’ but advocates say more needs to be done faster

Former Afghan interpreters now living in Canada held a rally on Parliament Hill on Tuesday to demand that the government bring their families to safety.

Jenny Kwan, the NDP Critic for Immigration, and Randall Garrison, the NDP Critic for Defence, said in a statement that Afghan interpreters, other Afghans who worked for Canada and their extended families are in a “highly precarious situation.”

“Although many collaborators are finally being helped to come to Canada, the Liberals’ new process is not good enough,” the statement said. The NDP is asking the government to broaden the program to allow for extended family, and for the application deadline to be extended.

IN THE NEWS: Toronto Star - Advocacy group hints at unexplained immigration policy shift

Activists from the Migrant Rights Network (MRN) say a “secretive policy shift” may be brewing at Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) which may explain the unprecedented rate of rejections of permanent residence applications on Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds.
Richard Goldman, a lawyer at Montreal City Mission, believes that some policy change may have occurred, but whether this involves the personnel assessing the applications, the training of these personnel or an internal directive is unknown.

“The Humanitarian and Compassionate application system is broken,” says Syed Hussan, who works with the Migrant Rights Network (MRN) secretariat, which organized marches in Montreal and Ottawa this past weekend to demand the government extend residency status to all migrants in order to ensure their equal access to rights. “And as the data we released is showing, it can arbitrarily be changed without oversight or accountability.”

IN THE NEWS: Star - Advocacy group hits at unexplained immigration policy shift

Note on source : data from the IRCC provided to the Migrant Justice Network by Jenny Kwan, the immigration affairs critic of the New Democratic Party (NDP), through an access to information request.

In a response to Radio-Canada, the IRCC insists the numbers have not changed. Expecting the refusal rate to eventually stabilize, it blames administrative delays resulting from the pandemic which have slowed down other immigration applications over the past year.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Special immigration measures will help Canada resettle thousands of Afghans who worked with military, embassy

The NDP’s defence critic, Randall Garrison, and its immigration critic, Jenny Kwan, released a statement saying these measures are “long overdue” and that it was “unconscionable” for Canada not to have done more already.

“The Liberals’ scramble to change their tune is demonstrated by the fact that the government is still unsure how many Afghans are eligible to come to Canada,” the statement said.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Former Canadian embassy employee says he fled Afghanistan after Taliban attack, urges Ottawa to extricate his family

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has called on Mr. Mendicino to put in place a special immigration measure to provide immediate refuge to those who aided the Canadian government and their families.

IN THE NEWS: Canadian Press - Permanent residency application rejections

Recently released figures show the rejection rate for permanent residency applications on humanitarian and compassionate grounds has risen sharply over the past couple of years.
"These decisions were done quietly behind closed doors and there is little public accountability in this opaque and discretionary process," said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan.
Canada allows some people who would not usually meet the criteria for permanent residency to apply on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which are considered on a case-by-case basis according to factors such as how settled someone is here or the best interests of children.
According to data the Immigration Department provided in response to an order paper question from Kwan this spring, the rate of applications refused after processing ranged from 35 to 41 per cent between 2016 and 2019. Those figures do not include applications that were withdrawn.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Special immigration measures will help Canada resettle thousands of Afghans who worked with military, embassy

Recently released figures show the rejection rate for permanent residency applications on humanitarian and compassionate grounds has risen sharply over the past couple of years.
"These decisions were done quietly behind closed doors and there is little public accountability in this opaque and discretionary process," said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan.
Canada allows some people who would not usually meet the criteria for permanent residency to apply on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which are considered on a case-by-case basis according to factors such as how settled someone is here or the best interests of children.
According to data the Immigration Department provided in response to an order paper question from Kwan this spring, the rate of applications refused after processing ranged from 35 to 41 per cent between 2016 and 2019. Those figures do not include applications that were withdrawn.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Former Afghan drivers who worked for Canada say their lives are in danger from Taliban reprisals

“For two decades, Afghan drivers served our Canadian embassies, military and our RCMP. After years of trusted service, the Liberal government is refusing to allow a pathway to safety for Afghans who served Canada. Trudeau is turning his back on them in their hour of need,” he said.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has also called on the government to help Afghan employees who worked for the Canadian government.
On Friday, Ms. Kwan wrote an open letter to Mr. Mendicino urging him to put in place a special immigration measure to provide immediate refuge to Afghan interpreters and their families who have been left behind.

IN THE NEWS: Montreal Gazette - Rejections for permanent residency requests in Canada doubled since 2019

The data comes from an access to information request filed by the New Democratic Party.
“The Liberal government must explain why there is such a surge in denials of humanitarian requests and take immediate action to rectify this,” said NDP MP Jenny Kwan in a statement. She is accusing the Liberals of having “discreetly made decisions behind closed doors” concerning an already “opaque and arbitrary” immigration process.
“We don’t understand what’s going on,” Hussan said. “There has been no policy change, no announcement.”  Hussan added that by doubling rejections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is doubling the exploitation of migrant workers without status. The change of direction “condemns the migrants already here” by “depriving them of the possibility of having rights,” he said.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Canada working to resettle dozens of Afghan interpreters and staff facing retailiation from Taliban

Dozens of Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the Canadian government during its military mission in Afghanistan are hoping to be resettled in Canada amid fears their lives are in danger from Taliban reprisals as the U.S. withdraws its troops from the war-torn country.

New Democrat immigration critic Jenny Kwan said as Canada’s allies withdraw troops from the country, “time is of the essence” to resettle Afghan employees who aided the Canadian government.
“To say that Canada will monitor the situation, which is the minister’s response, that’s akin to saying that Canada will stand on the sideline and watch as Afghan interpreters receive the death sentence,” she said in an interview.
Ms. Kwan also took issue with the idea of dealing with cases individually, calling it a “stock answer to quell public pressure.”
Afghan interpreters who helped the Canadian military, Ms. Kwan said, should not be left behind.