‘Forgotten refugees’ hope to bypass hearings
For those who have waited 5 years, advocates want cases fast-tracked
It may seem extreme, but advocates want the federal government to fast-track about 5,600 so-called “forgotten refugees” who after five years in Canada have still not been given a hearing.
The refugee claimants, from all over the world, are what are known as “legacy” claimants because they filed for refugee status before the new refugee determination regime came into force in December 2012.
While under the new system, a claimant must be given a hearing within 60 days — or in some cases 30 days — the legacy claimants, judged low priority by the Immigration and Refugee Board, have been waiting in limbo for five years.
“Families are separated, young people can’t pursue their education, no one can get on with their life — and there is no resolution in sight,” said Loly Rico, the president of the Canadian Council for Refugees. “Fairness requires that we give them the opportunity to regularize their status in Canada without delay.”
The CCR, along with the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, are proposing that rather than wait another five, six or eight years for a hearing on their initial refugee claim, the legacy claimants be given the option of having their status decided on humanitarian and compassionate grounds: on how well they have integrated into their communities in Canada and what hardship they would face if returned to their countries of origin.
Instead of a hearing, with all the delays and costs associated with it, an immigration officer would consider a written application, and look at the criminality of an applicant, whether they are working, paying taxes, and have small children, for example, said Mitchell Goldberg, the president of the CARL.
As it stands, only 678 legacy claims were finalized in 2016. At this rate, it could take another eight years to hear all the remaining legacy cases before the IRB. And in the meantime, new cases are piling up.
As per the law, refugee claimants must have a hearing scheduled within 60 days.
But 60 per cent of the hearings scheduled before the IRB in Montreal, for example, are then cancelled at the last minute or postponed, Goldberg said.
“The former government created this mess and everyone we’ve spoken to recognizes that the status quo is not acceptable,” Goldberg said. “If (the government) would rather hire more board members, they should go ahead and do so, but it will be a lot more expensive and other people coming in will wait longer and longer.”
The situation has taken its toll on one woman from Zimbabwe, who can’t reunite with her daughter, now 11, or leave the country to visit her, until she has permanent status in Canada; and on a gay man from the Caribbean, who wants to become a teacher, but as an eternal refugee claimant would have to pay international student fees in Canada.
It’s also been hard on Ibrahim, who came here from Ethiopia in 2012. A university teacher in his own country, he was also a member of an opposition party and was detained and tortured before he escaped and found his way to Canada.
“I’m in a safe country, I’m physically safe,” said Ibrahim, whose real name is being withheld to protect his identity.
“But mentally or psychologically it’s not safe, because I don’t know how long I’ll be safe and I have no idea about my future.”
With the label of refugee claimant, and long bouts of depression and helplessness, Ibrahim says it’s difficult to focus on his ambitions and fulfil his potential.
So instead he has worked a number of jobs in Canada including as a security guard for three years, and even volunteered to help Syrian newcomers settle in.
The Syrians were given permanent residency upon their arrival. Ibrahim has yet to get a hearing.
“I’m happy for them so they can forget what they’ve gone through and they can feel secure and focus on their lives even if it’s not happening for me,” Ibrahim said.
“For myself and the other refugees in the same situation our life is on hold.”
The backlog at the IRB is a result of several factors, including a growing number of claims from refugees coming over the U.S. border recently. But mostly it’s due to inefficiency, said Goldberg.
The Harper government mandated short deadlines for a first hearing of 30 or 60 days, depending on the country of origin.
But it is often not long enough for the Canada Border Services Agency to complete its security review of the applicant, so the case is postponed.
The short timelines also make it impossible for the IRB to develop specialized teams — with knowledge of Syria or El Salvador, for example — who can reach decisions faster.
The IRB has suggested extending the timelines so that a hearing is scheduled 90 to 120 days after a claim is filed.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not return a request for comment Wednesday on the special measures being suggested for legacy claims.
The immigration department has attempted to reduce the backlog of cases by allowing claimants from certain countries — Syria, Iraq, and Eritrea — to be granted refugee status without a hearing.
And since the beginning of April, people from countries with an acceptance rate of about 80 per cent or more can be given a shorter hearing, making it possible to hear more claims in the time available. It is not clear whether members have actually started conducting shorter hearings, however.
The CCR and the CARL believe the special measures for legacy claimants would take those claims off the IRB’s shoulders, and let the claimants themselves breathe easier.
“We keep hoping they’ll start reviewing our cases but it’s been five years,” says Ibrahim.
“The problem is not knowing how much longer I’ll have to wait. ... We’re already victims of our own governments. We just want our cases reviewed. We want the right to a fair trial like everyone else.”