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Refugee appeal division plea rejected |
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Canada will not introduce a refugee appeal division despite pleas from asylum seekers, according to news reports.
Immigration Minister Joe Volpe is expected to tell the standing committee on immigration that his department has decided not to introduce an appeal division, although Parliament recommended its creation in 2002, the Globe and Mail reported.
The move is certain to anger refugee advocates and placate critics of the system who feel there are already too many reviews for asylum seekers.
"For refugee claimants who do not abandon their claims, 70 per cent get in by the very end of the process," an immigration official was quoted as saying. "We have been improving the system so that legitimate asylum seekers are getting an answer much faster."
Failed asylum seekers may appeal to the Federal Court, which considers only mistakes in law. They may also appeal to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds or request a pre-removal risk assessment to determine whether their lives will be in danger if they are sent home.
Earlier this year, the sensational case of Harjit Singh, a failed refugee claimant who managed to prolong his stay in Canada for 13 years by applying for six humanitarian reviews, showed that the system was open to manipulation. His false accusations of influence peddling against Judy Sgro forced her to resign as immigration minister last January and prompted immigration officials to pledge to reform the beleaguered system.
The Immigration Department has tackled the refugee backlog, which stood at 28,000 at the end of 2004, down from a high of 56,000. The department says it has also overhauled the appointments process for IRB members and made the refugee determination system more "fast, fair and final."
About 12,400 humanitarian reviews are in the backlog. They take an average of 30 months to process, the Globe and Mail said.
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Newsfile 