TORONTO, April 30, 2001 -- Professor of Law and member of the York University Centre for Refugee Studies Sharryn Aiken will testify at public hearings of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Thursday, May 3, on the detrimental effects of major changes to security procedures proposed in the federal government’s new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Bill C-11.
Aiken says the bill maintains and reinforces some serious deficiencies in the current Immigration Act with respect to national security and terrorism. She urges that it be amended to promote international justice and security in compliance with international legal standards and the Geneva Conventions Act.
"Terminology which can be applied in a manner that directly encroaches on fundamental rights should be explicitly defined in legislation and subject to full parliamentary scrutiny, not left to regulations and policy guidelines," says Aiken in her brief to the committee.
She will propose a number of recommendations to ensure that security-related decisions affecting refugees are subject to impartial review, including ministerial opinions on the admissibility of a refugee. Aiken will also argue for the removal of references in the bill to "terrorists" and "members of terrorist organizations"on the grounds that the international community has consistently rejected a generalized definition of terrorism because the term is ambiguous and subject to political manipulation. She is scheduled to appear before the committee on Thursday, May 3 at 9 a.m. in the Lady Hamilton Room at the Ramada Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport East, 1677 Wilson Ave. For a copy of her brief, contact Colleen Burke at the York Centre for Refugee Studies, (416) 736-2100, ext. 30391.
The Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) is an organized research unit of York University, inaugurated in 1988, and engaged in research on refugee issues that informs public discussion as well as policy development and practice innovation by international, governmental, advocacy and service organizations. The Centre also supports teaching in refugee and migration studies, covering not only accommodation, protection, and assistance for refugees through asylum, settlement, resettlement and reintegration, but also the prevention of displacement. CRS faculty members have testified before various parliamentary committees over the years and do so as members of the Centre. Consistent with the nature of an academic centre, such submissions do not purport to represent the Centre as a whole, but rather offer an independent and personal viewpoint.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Sharryn Aiken Centre for Refugee Studies York University (416) 924-8142 (home) sharryn@yorku.ca |
Susan Bigelow Media Relations York University (416) 736-2100, ext. 22091 sbigelow@yorku.ca |
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