ONE DAY OUR FAMILY WILL BE REUNITED

Transcription

1 UNIT AVENUE NW EDMONTON, AB T5H 2X ; Institutelusa.com CANADA REFUFEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION IN THE Ottawa, Ontario April 22, 2017 ONE DAY OUR FAMILY WILL BE REUNITED CANADA REFUGEES FAMILY REUNIFICATION PROGRAM IN THE SUBMITTED BY COUNCIL OF CANADIAN-AFRICANS TO THE MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION, REFUGEE & CITIZENSHIP MAHAMAD ACCORD 1

2 I. UNHCR, CANADA AND REFUGEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION 1) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of our society, and Canada should protect. Canadian promotes family reunification to protect and preserve the unity of this fundamental unit of society, to restore basic dignity to a refugee s life, and especially to provide protection for children under the guidance of parents or other related adults. The policy on refugee family reunification also follows basic humanitarian considerations as well as practical concerns to increase the potential of refugees in their integration or reintegration process. 2) Canada recognizes the different cultural roots and societal norms that result in the variety of definitions of the family unit. It therefore promotes a path of cultural sensitivity combined with a pragmatic approach as the best course of action in the process of determining the parameters of a given refugee family. This principle recognizes that familial relationships are sometimes broader than blood lineage, and that in many societies extended family members such as parents, brothers and sisters, adult children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews, etc., are financially and emotionally tied to the principal breadwinner or head of the family unit. 3) Canadian value promotes the unity of the refugee s family. Assuring this unity of the family is a principal means by which the refugee family is protected. When refugees leave their homeland, family members are frequently separated as some are left behind and others are forced to flee at different times through separate means. Resettlement, as a tool of international protection, involves preserving and restoring the basic dignity of a refugee s life, including promoting the reunification of the refugee s family. II. COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR REFUGEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION 4) The Taccalusa Institute is interested in working with the government of Canada in arranging the sponsorship and immigration to Canada of a specifically identified group of refugees residing in Refugee Settlement in various countries. The Council of Canadian-Africans has identified 50,000 individuals and Families in various Refugee Camps, all of whom are UN-recognized refugees and who are, in addition, family members of Canadian living and working in Canada. 5) This group is, in our submission, appropriate for a group immigration program. Recent spates of violence, not to mention the ever-present threat of starvation, have only accentuated the immediate concern for these refugees. These refugees are almost entirely dependent on remittances from their Canada-based family members because UN food rations received at Camps are insufficient to sustain even basic subsistence. By arranging a cooperative program between the TACCALUSA INSTITUTE as a community group and the Canadian government, we hope to coordinate a resettlement program asking to that of the Vietnamese boat people following the end of the Vietnam War or the 380 Somali refugees brought to Hamilton via the Group Process in ) I understand that on January 29, 2010, Minister of immigration met with representatives from the Canadian Somali Congress to discuss issues of importance to the community. One of the issues that arose at that meeting was of the Canadian government s willingness to bring over a number of refugees living in refugee camps. At this meeting, the Minister stated that he would, in principle, support a resettlement plan such as the one we are proposing, with the understanding that it would be premised on the families and community reaching an agreement with the government to contribute to the costs of the resettlement and socio-economic integration. MAHAMAD ACCORD 2

3 7) The principal role of TACCALUSA INSTITUTE in family reunification is to ensure cooperation and collaboration by the competent authorities of States concerned in order to facilitate the expedited reunification of families separated by the refugee experience. The TACCALUSA INSTITUTE is willing to play the role of institutional representative of the community for this purpose. To this end, it has obtained the support of other local and national groups, including the Hospitality House, the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Albert Somali Community Centre, Brooks and Newell County Community Centre, and Canadian African Advancement Council. In particular, the Edmonton Mennonite Centre has offered to devote its resources to a host job training, language learning, and other vocational and integrative programs for this group. III. HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS OF SUPPORTING REFUGEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION EFFORTS. 8) Separated refugee families can only enjoy life through the reunion of family members in a country where they can live a normal life together. Therefore, refugees and other persons in need of international protection who have no other country than the country of asylum or resettlement to lead a normal family life together should be allowed to family reunion in the country of asylum or resettlement. The separation of refugee families is often traumatic and can have long lasting consequences in a refugee s wellbeing. Many refugees experience stress and anxiety because they may have lost contact with their close relatives and are left without the support systems inherent in family life. Restoring family unity is vital to the humanitarian mission of Canada, as well as central to its protection mandate. 9) In order to minimize further distress resulting from a period of prolonged separation, it is important that refugee family reunification occurs with the least possible delay. Expedited procedures are particularly necessary to reunify separated children with their parents or surviving adult relatives to avoid emotional harm caused by separation. The refugee family is essential to the successful integration of resettled refugees. Refugee Family reunification plays a significant role in meeting the long-term needs of resettled refugees and assists them to adjust and integrate to the country of resettlement. The refugee family is often the strongest and most effective emotional, social and economic support network for a refugee making the difficult adjustment to a new culture and social framework. Resettlement countries also benefit when national policies, procedures and programs enhance the unity of the family after the initial resettlement phase, strengthening the capacity of individuals to function in their new countries, facilitating their integration process and promoting social and economic self-sufficiency. 10) A flexible and expansive approach to family reunification therefore not only benefits refugees and their communities, but also resettlement countries by enhancing integration prospects and lowering social costs in the long term. At present, Canadian families send an average of $500-$700 each per month in remittances to relatives in refugee camps. Over time, this amount will increase as the living situation in the camps worsens. This is money which would otherwise be invested in the Canadian economy, buying homes and opening businesses, rather than being sent overseas. The lack of selfsettlement options in Kenya and Uganda, the dedication of Canadian families in across the country, and the present labour shortages in Canada, combine to make this proposal both critically important and socially and economically viable. IV. THE ROLE OF TACCALUSA INSTITUTE IN CANADA REFUGEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION PROGRAMMES MAHAMAD ACCORD 3

4 11) The principal role of TACCALUSA INSTITUTE in family reunification is to ensure cooperation and collaboration to facilitate the expedited reunification of families separated by the refugee experience. A consistent approach to review the administrative frameworks is important in order to facilitate family reunification. The TACCALUSA INSTITUTE and its members are aware that there are challenges for a group resettlement plan, including issues of cost, socio-economic integration, health care, and employment. The TACCALUSA INSTITUTE has already begun arranging programs and services that would be ready to assist newly arriving refugees. As an organization, the TACCALUSA INSTITUTE has a history of success in these field. In recent years for example, they had held numerous job fairs resulting in the immediate employment of significant percentages of attendees. A forthcoming job fair, focusing on employment in law enforcement agencies, has already attracted the interest of local branches of the RCMP for prospective recruitment opportunities. The TACCALUSA INSTITUTE has also obtained letters of interest from large Alberta employers, including businesses engaged in the cattle industry and in the Fort McMurray-based oil sands developments, with significant work force needs that can absorb new arrivals in the province. 12) A flexible and expansive approach to family reunification therefore not only benefits refugees and their communities, but also resettlement countries by enhancing integration prospects and lowering social costs in the long term. Non-governmental organizations, and other implementing partners can play a useful role in assisting refugees to be unified with their families. Working in concert with UNHCR, such partnerships can enhance the application and processing systems in both countries of temporary refuge and resettlement, working with the refugee community, applicants and beneficiaries, to assure adequate documentation and verification of relationships. V. THE BENEFITS OF CANADA REFUGEE FAMILY REUNIFICATION PROGRAM 13) While it is obvious that there are significant advantages for the refugee when he or she is reunified with family members, it is important to note that there are specific benefits related to Canadian s protection of refugee mandate. The family plays an important role in extending protection to its individual members, through the support and cohesion that results from this basic unit of community. Similarly, in Canada, the resettlement of the refugee family is a major contributor to the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of its individual members. Evidence has shown, for example, that therapeutic interventions for highly traumatized persons works best when the family system is also restored to a functional level. One of the goals of torture is not only to destroy the psyche of the individual person, but also to annihilate the social support systems that support and nourish the individual. Working comprehensively within the family structure is often the most likely way to restore the psychosocial wellbeing of the individual. 14) Experience has also shown that the family unit is essential to enhance the integration prospects refugees. Family members often are the first line of assistance to help newly arrived refugees learn how to maneuver in the new social environment, through informal cultural orientation, helping individuals learn transportation systems, obtaining necessities of life, and other adjustment related issues. Either in many cases the family is also the primary source for interpretation services, through members that have resided in the country of resettlement previously, or with younger members who learn the new language quicker than the adult members of the family. While not the preferred method of providing interpretation, in many situations this is the only way the adult refugees can communicate with social service agencies, employers and others in the host society during the early phases of resettlement. MAHAMAD ACCORD 4

5 15) The family unit plays a major role in the economic self-sufficiency of newly arrived refugees. Often refugees, like other immigrants, work in the informal economy, and the networking that occurs among extended families often is the quickest avenue for individuals to obtain employment. In many countries, businesses started by refugees and other immigrants are also the source for employment for many newly arriving refugees. 16) Families also help their members in developing capital for micro-enterprise initiatives, business start-ups, and buying real estate and homes. In some resettlement countries, experience has shown that refugee families often pool their resources together and are thus able to have investment capital for all sorts of entrepreneurial activities and small business development. Other forms of resource pooling include, where necessary, costs for post-secondary education and other forms of professional development and recertification to maximize the human potential of refugees, Refugee Family reunification thus is a benefit of incomparable value to the individual members and the family as a unit. At the same time, protecting the family unit through reunification also is a benefit to Canada, as the integration prospects and the well-being of individual refugees is enhanced, thus enhancing the adjustment of refugees to their new. 17) The TACCALUSA INSTITUTE and its allied groups offer a wide-range of educational and integration services for newcomers, including: 1) Integration programs designed to build bridges between the Alberta Somali community and the mainstream institutions. Partnerships with other local community centres as well as the national organization Commitment to the financial support of newly arrived refugees. Provision of initial housing of refugees while simultaneously assisting in obtaining permanent housing Job skills programs, including computer skills, literacy, and language training Job referral programs Crime prevention programs Grade 1-12 tutoring programs, sports and after-school programs for teens and young people,regularly scheduled cultural events,advocacy assistance to allow better communication with government services and law enforcement. 2) Part-time ESL classes in effective parenting in a new culture, childcare programs settlement counselling and support services to assist with social services (health care, income support, food resources, and transportation),career planning and applications to various government programs and offices, translation and interpretation services, school integration services for young people, trauma counselling and mental health assistance, apartment style housing and housing support services, programs to improve interview skills and creation of resumés, assistance in obtaining, Canadian accreditation, upgrading and skills training, and special programs aimed at social integration for women refugees. VI. CONCLUDING RECOMMENDATIONS 18) Refugee Family reunification Program, in the context of resettlement programs, needs to be protection focused. This means adopting a proactive approach to assist and reunite members who are dependent on the family for their economic, emotional and spiritual support. Canada should adopt guidelines and procedures that focus on the need of the refugee to be reunited with his or her family, regardless of whether or not the claimant is the head of the household is a refugee, whether or not the refugee is the petitioner or the beneficiary of the family reunification request, and whether the refugee is in the country of resettlement or in temporary refuge. 19) Refugee Family reunification procedures should be expeditious, taking into account the special needs of women, children and adolescents, refugees with medical needs, and elderly members of the family. A flexible definition of the family, which emphasizes the primacy of the element of MAHAMAD ACCORD 5

6 dependency among its members, should be used. Blood lineage ties, legally sanctioned unions, and cultural, economic and other dependency factors should be equally weighed in the decision-making process of States. Such an approach will strengthen the unity of the family and allow for situation specific strategies and culturally sensitive responses. 20) Canada, in consultation with UNHCR, should harmonize policies and procedures in reference to family reunification for refugees, in parallel and complementary form to regular legal immigration procedures affecting families. Particular attention should be paid to refugees who have links in countries of resettlement, and their admission should be considered as part of the responsibility sharing arrangement between Canadian Government and TACCALUSA INSTITUTE. Conversely, a link to one country should not de facto make a refugee inadmissible to another resettlement country solely on the basis of the family link. Efforts to maintain family unity and promote reunification need to be prioritized at an early stage of all refugee operations, whether resettlement is being considered at that time or not. Detailed case information, notation of family trees, documentation of dependency among members, and secondary evidence of familial relationships in the form of affidavits when legal documentation has been lost or destroyed, are necessary and important elements of refugee registration. 21) Refugee Family Reunion policies that are flexible and expansive benefit refugees and their communities. Resettlement countries also benefit from strengthening refugee families through reunification, by enhancing integration prospects and lowering social costs in the long term. Canada should be encouraged to devote resources to maintaining and support the family in the postresettlement process of integration, through programs of assistance, counselling and economic selfsufficiency. Canadian government is encouraged to collaborate with TACCALUSA INSTITUTE in the processing and administration of applications for family reunification. 22) Mr. Tom Denton highlights the most fundamental argument that can be made in support of family reunion, that until the point at which families are reunited, settlement stresses are compounded by worries and uncertainty about the safety of family members left behind. While this is an individual rights issue and, as has been highlighted, integration is aided by reunification, Denton also highlights that immigrants rely more heavily on family support networks since as newcomers they lack other forms of support. 23) TACCALUSA INSTITUTE proposes a more sympathetic system whereby family reunification assessments should be done on a case-by-case basis looking at the particular relationships that the applicants engage in, whether they be relations by blood or otherwise. TACCALUSA INSTITUTE would suggest an approach of substitutability, focusing on the family nucleus in the sense of a unit of caregivers and dependents but which does not take into account only the blood ties that are presently given preference. Thank you for taking the time to consider this proposal. I look forward to hearing your response and to working with you and your office in bringing this project to fruition. MAHAMAD ACCORD 6