Refugees

REFUGEES

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IN MEMORIAM: FRANCES MACQUEEN

   It is with great sadness and profound respect that we acknowledge the passing of Ms. Frances MacQueen. Frances was a founder and long time executive director of the Vancouver Association for the Survivors of Torture. More recently she has served as a founder of Asociación Salvadoreña Sobrevivientes de la Tortura (ASST) (Salvadoran Association of Torture Survivors).
   She dedicated her life to the care of and support for oppressed peoples around the world. She was a tireless advocate for asylum seekers who came to Canada from horrific situations in all parts of the globe. She fought for justice and transparency in countries with long histories of violence. She died in El Salvador doing the work that she loved. She will be greatly missed by many.
   We learned a great deal from her about refugees and survivors of torture, their resiliance and ability to deal with post-traumatic stress and other vestiges of their long road to freedom. She never stopped reminding anyone who would listen that though many have been helped, so much more remains to be done. Indeed, in her later years, she battled against the growing tendency to see asylum seekers not as people who needed and deserved help, but as some kind of security threat. It is important in remembering her life and honoring her passing that we recall her commitment and call for everyone to join in the pursuit of justice for those who are most in need of it, given the suffering they have endured.

In these difficult times it is well to remind ourselves
of the feelings of refugees who come to a host nation seeking asylum.
The following excerpt from one newcomer helps to convey those
feelings and reveal the terrible experiences that have generated them.

"LIFE GIVERS" BY NINA

First Appeared in VAST QUARTERLY,
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Used by Permission of the Author and
the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture.

I quake in my boots and break out in cold sweat at the mere
thought of facing life and death all over again.

How do I show someone who goes to Tim Horton's, uses the
drive-through window at MacDonald's, hockey games and
can call the police to report noise levels, etc., that being raped
is as common as brushing my teeth, that walking on the street
is a threat, for you might never come home for weeks if ever.

That torture is as common as gulping an icy drink on a sweltering
humid summer day. That I sleep with both eyes open waiting for
the door to be kicked in. That the threat of impending doom
tastes like rancid ice cream on a cone.

That this state of being doesn't stop even when an escape is
sweetly successful. How do I take you, life giver, from your
paradise of absolute safety to my hellish nightmarish
microwavable nuclear existence.

You scare me with your officiousness and the comfortable
air about you.

Why do I feel that somehow you are on par with my
tormentors as they also happen to be life givers. . . .
They have guns, you have stamps.

Do you feel my trembling limbs, see my glaze-laced
acid eyes and my belly going through the most
amazing feats of wondrous gymnastics.

Am so mutely petrified. Can you tell me how to talk
to you without crumbling into ashes or volcanic eruption.

What's New?

U.S. and Canada Move Forward on Controversial "Beyond the Borders" Initiative
September 15, 2011. The U.S. and Canada have created a joint Beyond the Border Working Group to develop policy for information sharing and coopertion on immigration and economic issues. This began with a joint declaration issued by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in February. Portions of agreements have been leaked to the Canadian press which have prompted concerns particularly in the Canadian press and other Canadians about the protection of privacy rights. The Rideau Institute has issued a report entitled "Shared Vision or Myopia: The Politics of Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness" critical of the policy proposals.
   Read President OBama's and Prime Minister Harper's joint declaration "Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.
   Access the Beyond the Border Working Group Website.
   Read the Report on Consultations on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.
   Read the Rideau Institute "Shared Vision or Myopia" Report.

Ninth Circuit Ruling Opens Discussions of Women as Target Group in Guatemala
July 27, 2010. A panel of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for ninth Circuit has issued an opinion in the Perdomo v. Holder, No. 06-71652, that addresses the claim that women in Guatemala constitute a particular group that may have a well founded fear of persecution and thuse be eligible for refugee status under U.S. law. The appeal came from a rejection by an Immigration judge of the claim that as a Guatemalan woman between 14 and 40 years of age Perdomo was a member of a particular group that faced a well founded fear of persectution. She ruled that Perdomo was not a member of a particular social group entitled to consideration for refugee status, but part of a demographic that was not a particular group that would qualify under the law. A panel of the Ninth Circuit did not resolve the final question in the case, but did reject the finding by the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals that Perdomo's claim concerned a group too broad and not adequately defined to qualify for refugee consideration. The panel concluded: "We therefore remand for the BIA to determine in the first instance whether women in Guatemala constitute a particular social group, and, if so, whether Perdomo has demonstrated a fear of persecution 'on account of' her membership in such a group." Slip opinion at 9936.
Read the opinion.

Pakistan Fighting Sends Thousands Into Flight
May 11, 2009. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has issued a plea for special international assistance for refugees fleeing the fighting between Pakistan's military and Taliban fighters in the northwestern part of Pakistan. The UNHCR announcement notes that as of this date some 360,000 have registered with the agency with many more unregistered and in dire conditions. The latest version of that document is a 2007 report.
Access the UNHCR Release on the State of the Pakistan Refugee Challenge.

NGO Partnerships in Refugee Protection
May 12, 2009. The UNHCR published some time ago an interesting document on NGO partnerships which have become extremely important as many countries have scaled back or even eliminated direct services in the field outside their borders.
Access the UNHCR NGO Partnerships in Refugee Protection.
Access additional UNHCR Partnership Information.

Federal Court of Canada Ruling Strikes Down "Safe Third Country" Agreement with U.S.
November 30, 2007. Judge Michael Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada has issued an opinion in the case of Canadian Concil for Refugees v. Her Majesty the Queen, 2007 FC 1262, striking down the so-called "Safe Third Country Agreement" between Canada and the United States limited the ability of parties who seek to move from one country to the other to perfect a claim for refugee status. Justice Phelan, wrote in part that: "For the reasons outlined in this judgment, the United States' policies and practices do not meet the conditions set down for authorizing Canada to enter into a STCA. The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the Convention Against Torture prohibition (the Maher Arar case being one example). Further, the STCA does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Charter. Finally, the Canadian government has not conducted the on-going review mandated by Parliament despite both the significant passage of time since the commencement of the STCA and the evidence as to U.S. practices currently available." Slip opinion at 7. As this excerpt indicates, there were several grounds for the ruling, including a finding that the practices permitted violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
. Access the opinion.

National Academy Releases PTSD Report
October 19, 2007. The Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of the National Academy, Institute of Medicine's Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice has issued a report entitled Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence. The report, requested by the Veterans Administration, assesses existing evidence on treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in the wake of national debate on services available to returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
. Access the PTSD report.

UNHCR Issues Updated Compendium of International Legal Documents on Refugees and Other of Concern to UNHCR
July 13. 2007. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has issued a new compendium of the international legal documents that apply to refugees and others of concern to UNHCR. The last edition was published in 1995
   Read Vol. 1
   Read Vol. 2
   Read Vol. 3
   Read Vol. 4

Congress Enacts the REAL ID Act P.L. 109-13 Making Dramatic Changes in Asylum Policy and Other Key Areas
May 11, 2005. President Bush today signed into law P.L. 109-13, an emergency appropriations act for military operations and homeland security matters, but contained within it is the hotly debated REAL ID Act. While most attention during the debates was focused on provisions requiring demonstration of citizenship or legal residency in order to obtain a driver's license, the legislation also significantly change U.S. asylum policy among other key changes.
Read the Act

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Publishes Report Critical of U.S. Expedited Removal
February 8, 2005. The congressionally chartered U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has published a report entitled "Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal." The report found inconsistent application of policy and procedures in different parts of the U.S. and raised significant questions about conditions of confinement for those who are detained prending action on their asylum request.
Read the Executive Summary or Full Report

International Agencies

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

UNHCR Report: The State of the World's Refugees 2006
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/template?page=publ&src=static/sowr2006/toceng.htm

UNHCR The State of the World's Refugees 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/template?page=publ&src=static/sowr2000/toceng.htm

UNHCR The State of the World's Refugees 1997: A Humanitarian Agenda
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ?id=3eef1d896

UNHCR Refugees by Numbers 2005
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/basics/opendoc.htm?tbl=BASICS&id=3b028097c

UNHCR NGO Partnerships in Refugee Protection
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/partners/opendoc.pdf?tbl=PARTNERS&id=41c162d04

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://www.unhchr.ch/

National Agencies

Citizenship and Immigration Canada
http://cicnet.ci.gc.ca/

U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm

U.S. Department of State
http://www.state.gov/index.cfm

Office of Refugee Resettlement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/orr/

State Refugee Agencies and Refugee Coordinators
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/orr/StateRef.htm#STATE

Refugee Law Sites

AsylumLaw.org
http://www.asylumlaw.org

The University of Michigan Law School Refugee Case Law Site
http://www.refugeecaselaw.org/Refugee/index.htm

The Refugee Law Center
http://www.refugeelawcenter.org/

National and International Nongovernmental Organizations

Refugee Council of Australia
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/

British Refugee Council
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/0201/home/home001.htm

Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford
http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/rsp/

Center for Refugee Studies, York University, Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/crs/

Center for Victims of Torture
http://www.cvt.org/

Canadian Center for Victims of Torture
http://www.icomm.ca/ccvt/Overview.html

Canadian Council for Refugees
http://www.ccrweb.ca/eng/engfront/frontpage.htm

European Council on Refugees and Exiles
http://www.ecre.org/

EU Networks on the Integration of Refugees
http://www.refugeenet.org/

Norwegian Refugee Council
http://www.nrc.no/engindex.htm

Swedish Network of Asylum and Refugee Support Groups (FARR)
http://hem.passagen.se/asylum/ovrigt3.html

U.S. Committee for Refugees
http://www.refugees.org/

Other Web Resources

Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web
http://www.llrx.com/features/refugee.htm

UNHCR Images of Refugees
http://www.unhcr.ch/images/images.htm