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6 Refuge 1 (1986-1987)

handle is hein.journals/rfgcjr6 and id is 1 raw text is: I CANADA'S PERIODICAL ON REFUGEES R EFUJE E Vol. 6, No. 1 October 1986 The United Nations High Comtmissioner for Refugees, Mr. Jean-Pierre Hock6, announced today that the Nansen Medal Committee has decided to award the 1986 Medal to the People of Canada in recognition of the major and sustained contribution made to the cause of refugees in their country and throughout the world over the years. (Press release, United Nations, October 6, 1986) Very rarely do Canadians working with and for refugees have occasion to rejoice -- there are ten million reasons not to. The news of October 6th brought us up short. Impersonal and distant non-governmental organizations have been watching Canadians in their official and even everyday humanitarian work. Every Canadian has the sovereign right to be proud of this singular honour, awarded for the first time to all the people of a country. The Canadian effort on behalf of refugees has been collective. It has been animated in local community groups, in agencies and in provincial and federal government ministries in Canada and abroad. It has extended from resettlement in Canada through sustained and sometimes bold efforts to provide Canada's protection nearer their homeland. November 13th will be the day for momentary rejoicing, to take satisfaction in our efforts, however fledgling and chequered with partial results and half-successes these may be. But all goods things come to an end -- so too with the new-found Canadian euphoria. We can do no greater service in the spirit of Hansen than to be critical of the refugee situation everywhere -- no less in Canada than in countries where social conditions force involuntary migration. And to be critical no less of our own work than of our govemment's policy. A Time to Rejoice Thus Refuge highlights here two major themes which bring us quickly back to order: first, the issue of refugee determination policy and secondly, that of receiving refugees with well- founded fears of persecution who arrive in a manner to which Canada is unaccustomed. In these pages Tom Clark underscores the unflagging insistence of the Inter-Church Committee for Refugees on principles of due process for all claimants arriving at Canada's borders. Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut cogently reminds us of the sensibility of these propositions for Canadian life: to treat refugees otherwise is to practice the very discrimination which Canada could eradicate. The Canadian government's position, too, appears plausible. Due process will be assured but within limits which the government considers practical, and cost-efficient. And government representatives are unwilling to forward policy which in its estimation, it cannot responsibly deliver. Refugee policy is one among many games in the political arena. It is subject to the same type of compromises as foreign aid and wheat subsidies. The gap remains, bridged by political leaders begging for time and patience, reminding the advocate that yet another round of bargaining will occur in next year s promised consultation. Yet refugee affairs are affairs of the moment. Certainly the recent arrival of Tamils in Canada illustrates that point. The Tamils unanimously claim past and potential future persecution in Sri Lanka. There appeared no other means of affording them protection collectively as well as individually than to grant them temporary asylum and rights to seek employment and to enjoy health and social assistance benefits while awaiting hearings for judgement on their cases. By all accounts, Canada's move appears at once generous and sensible. But it is not undebatable. If these Tamil claimants arrived from West Germany, which also granted them asylum, why did they not remain there? How does this particular group differ from other refugees who are discontented with their country of refuge and wish to rejoin family members here? Is ingenuity rather than need for asylum being reinforced in this instance? Continued on p. 2 © C. Michael Lanphier, 1986. This open-access work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits use, reproduction and distribution in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author(s) are credited and the original publication in Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees is cited. IN THIS ISSUE: Refugee Determination in Canada by Raphael Girard page 3 Principles and Questions by W. Gunther Plaut page 4 The Government's Refugee Determination Proposals: An Update by Tom Clark page 5 Forum page 7 An Interview on the Case of the 155 Tamil Refugees with Sri Guggan Sri-Skanda-Rajah page 8 0000\

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