TORONTO, February 16, 2001 -- Thousands of refugees admitted by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board are living in stateless limbo, having been refused permanent residence by the department of Citizenship and Immigration.

Prof. Michael Creal at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University says this is a violation of Canada's international treaty obligations and should be rectified in any new legislation to amend Canada's Immigration Act. Creal will present the situation of stateless refugees in Canada from Somalia, Sri Lanka, Iran, India, Afghanistan and other countries in a seminar entitled Refugees in Limbo, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 12 p.m.

Also presenting are the authors of a recent report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), entitled Refugees in Limbo and Canada's International Obligations, on Friday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, professor of international refugee law at the University of Oxford, and Judith Kumin, UNHCR representative in Canada, will describe how Canada's failure to grant legal status to recognized refugees may be violating its obligations under the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

Creal says 1993 legislation in Canada requiring refugees to produce "satisfactory identity documents" to obtain landed immigrant status (i.e. permanent residence) has served to deprive thousands of bona fide refugees of legal status, severely limiting their access to employment and education, barring them from leaving the country to visit relatives, and preventing them from adjusting to Canadian life and becoming productive members of society. He notes that the legislation does not define what constitutes a satisfactory travel document, increasing the arbitrary nature of the decision by immigration officers.

"Canadians generally take a dark view of human rights abuses in other parts of the world, but this is a violation of human rights here in Canada as defined by our own Charter and our international treaty obligations," says Creal. He says concern at Citizenship and Immigration Canada about fraudulent refugee claims by criminals and terrorists is not borne out by the evidence. He also points to a Federal Court ruling ( Regina vs. Aden) in December 2000 that allows applicants for landing to swear declarations attesting to their identity or provide such from a Canadian citizen who knew the applicant prior to the applicant's arrival in Canada, or from an official of a credible organization representing nationals of the applicant's country of origin. But Creal adds that the judgement has yet to be implemented and the situation for refugees remains the same.

Both seminars are sponsored by the York Centre for Refugee Studies and will convene from 12-2 p.m. in room 305 York Lanes, York University, Keele Campus, 4700 Keele St.

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For further information, please contact:

Michael Creal Centre for Refugee Studies, York University (416) 736-5663 mcreal@yorku.ca

Susan Bigelow Media Relations York University  (416) 736-2100, ext. 22091 sbigelow@yorku.ca

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