Rights Groups Urge OAS to Declare Canadian Refugee
Policy
a Rights Abuse
Montreal, April 1, 2004: A coalition of non-governmental organizations,
from
both Canada and the United States,* today urged the Inter-American
Commission
on Human Rights (of the Organization of American States (OAS)) to
declare
Canada’s policy of returning asylum seekers to the United States
without
hearings to be a violation of international law.
In implementing the return or “direct back” policy, Canadian
immigration
officials force asylum seekers appearing at the United States-Canada
border
to return to the United States, and thereby potentially deny them a
chance
to make their claims in Canada. Many of those already returned to
the
United States have been placed in detention and some have been forcibly
returned
to their countries of origin where they face the risk of
persecution.
Returning an individual to persecution, also known as refoulement, is a
serious
breach of customary international law.
“The direct back policy was implemented in flagrant disregard of the
impact
on the basic rights of those seeking asylum in Canada,” said Janet
Dench,
Executive Director of Canadian Council for Refugees. “It is shameful
that
these asylum seekers, many of whom have endured terrible abuse in their
own
countries, are turned away without access to protection,” said Patrick
Giantonio,
Director of Vermont Refugee Assistance. “It’s time for the
international
community to step in to protect their rights.”
The 30-page petition and accompanying evidence highlight the cases of
three
refugee claimants who were “directed back” by Canadian authorities,
forced
to endure months of detention in the United States, and then returned
to
their home countries without the chance to seek asylum in Canada.
Should
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights find in favor of the
petitioners,
it could order Canada to stop the direct back policy and order
compensation
for those forcibly returned to the United States.
“Asylum-seekers turned back from the Canadian border face arbitrary
detention
and refoulement in the United States. That must stop.
That's
what we are asking of the Canadian government, and that is why we have
turned
to the Commission,” said Alex Neve, Secretary-General of Amnesty
International
Canada.
*Canadian Council for Refugees, Vermont Refugee Assistance, Amnesty
International
Canada, Freedom House (Detroit, MI), and Global Justice Center.
The
petition was also prepared with the assistance of the Harvard
Immigration
and Refugee Clinic and Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights.
A copy of the petition is available at http://www.ccrweb.ca/IACHRpet.PDF.
For more information, contact:
Janet Dench,
Executive Director, Canadian Council for Refugees
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
(514) 277-7223
ccr@web.ca
Patrick Giantonio
Director, Vermont Refugee Assistance
Montpelier, Vermont, United States
(802) 223-6840
vtrefuge@together.net
Gloria Nafziger
Refugee Coordinator, Amnesty International Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(416) 363-9933 ext. 26
gnafziger@amnesty.ca
David Koelsch
Staff Attorney, Freedom House (Detroit, MI)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
(313) 964-4320
fhdkoelsch@sbcglobal.net