Law Commons^™

The Exclusion Trap For Women Refugee Claimants Who Escape Domestic Violence With Children, Katherine Tess Shelley

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Women who escape domestic violence with their children are being denied refugee status in Canada on the grounds that, by fleeing with their children, they have committed the crime of child abduction. Article 1(F)(b) of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which has been imported into Canadian law, specifies that individuals who have committed serious, non-political crimes are excluded from the protections associated with being a legal refugee. Consequently, women who travel to Canada with their children risk the denial of their refugee claims solely because they chose not to abandon their children in an abusive or potentially dangerous situation. In this …

No Refuge: Hungarian Romani Refugee Claimants In Canada, Sean Rehaag, Julianna Beaudoin, Jennifer Danch

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

From 2008 to 2012, thousands of Hungarian Roma sought asylum in Canada. Some political actors suggested that their claims were unfounded and demonstrated that Canada’s refugee processes were vulnerable to abuse. In contrast, advocates for refugees argued that persecution against Roma was rampant in Hungary and noted that hundreds of Hungarian Roma were granted refugee status in Canada. Much of this debate has occurred in an evidentiary vacuum. This article fills this vacuum through a qualitative and quantitative study of Hungarian Romani refugee claims. First, the context of the study is discussed. Then, the article explores the experiences of Hungarian …

Bordering The Constitution, Constituting The Border, Efrat Arbel

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

It is an established principle in Canadian law that refugees present at or within Canada’s borders are entitled to basic constitutional protection. Where precisely these borders lie, however, is far from clear. In this article, I examine the Canadian border as a site at which to study the constitutional entitlements of refugees. Through an analysis of the Multiple Borders Strategy (MBS)--a broad strategy that re-charts Canada’s borders for the purposes of enhanced migration regulation--I point to a basic tension at play in the border as site. I argue that the MBS imagines and enacts the border in two fundamentally different …

Unappealing: An Assessment Of The Limits On Appeal Rights In Canada's New Refugee Determination System, Angus Gavin Grant, Sean Rehaag

Articles & Book Chapters

Canada’s refugee determination system was revised in 2012. One key feature of the new process is a quasi-judicial administrative appeal, on matters of both fact and law, at the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). Under the new process, however, many claimants are denied access to the RAD.

This article assesses these limits on access to the RAD, drawing mostly on quantitative data obtained from the IRB and Citizenship and Immigration Canada through access to information requests. Our aim is to provide evidence-based analysis and recommendations for reform. Essentially, our conclusions are that the bars …

When Do Human Rights Treaties Help Asylum Seekers? A Study Of Theory And Practice In Canadian Jurisprudence Since 1990, Stephen Meili

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article supports a new theoretical approach to the utilization of human rights treaties in refugee status adjudications in domestic courts. The existing literature on treaty effectiveness is divided between several optimistic and pessimistic perspectives, none of which adequately predict the circumstances under which domestic courts in Canada reference treaties in ways that help refugees obtain relief. This new theoretical approach adds to the literature on treaty effectiveness in the litigation context by suggesting that the extent to which Canadian domestic courts reference treaties in ways that help refugees depends on several factors, including the manner in which those treaties …

The Cases Of Ward And Chan, Ron Shacter

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Parkdale Community Legal Services has had an Immigration and Refugee division since 1989. The immigration division is one of the busiest divisions. The group represents refugee claimants, with an overall priority of women fleeing abuse in their country of nationality. The group also advocates for clients in family reunification and landing matters and represents clients in their applications for landing on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Law reform work includes continued work with the Toronto Coalition Against Racism and the Canadian Council for Refugees to build responses to the Head Tax, Safe Third Country Agreement, and the new identification and delayed …

Fundamental Justice And The Deflection Of Refugees From Canada, James C. Hathaway, R. Alexander Neve

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Canada is preparing to implement a controversial provision of the Immigration Act that will deny asylum seekers the opportunity even to argue their need for protection from persecution. Under a policy labelled "deflection" by the authors, the claims of refugees who travel to Canada through countries deemed safe, likely the United States and eventually Europe, will be rejected without any hearing on the merits. Because deflection does not require substantive or procedural harmonization of refugee law among partner states, it will severely compromise the ability of genuine refugees to seek protection. The article considers the impact of the Singh ruling …