Background
Canada has been flouting its own laws as well as its obligations to uphold international norms and treaties that they subscribe in the caes of the recent Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. Australia was trying to do so with the Tamil refugees trying to reach Australia, but Indonesia was unwilling to be an accomplice to Australia, curiously. The situations are very similar. The name of the ship that arrived in Canada was the Ocean Lady, carrying 76 passengers. The name of the ship that was intercepted by Indonesia en route to Australia was the Ocean Viking, carrying 78 passengers. The Canadian Coast Guard was not aware of the Ocean Lady until tipped off by the Sri Lankan government. Many immigrants from that part of the world brave the treacherous voyage across the Pacific Ocean, although this rarely makes the news because many who come as stowaways in freight containers are dead on arrival. The Australian government was notified by the Indonesian government before responding to the situation. The Ocean Viking may have been heading for Christmas Island, like a previous ship had recently, and Christmas Island is where refugees land to apply for asylum in Australia. The detention facility for such asylum seekers on that island, as well as the life-threatening journey to Canada across the Pacific Ocean, are evidently much better options for the refugees than the internment camps in which they would otherwise be languishing in Sri Lanka.
When immigrants apply for refugee status, it is incumbent on the adopted countries to not share this information with the government from which the refugees fled. Since the refugees are being persecuted, any of their families, neighbours, colleagues, etc. who remain behind should not be unfairly punished. See below for details regarding laws to this effect. Canada, however, has bragged that it has shared information that it gained after "interviewing" its Tamil refugees with the Sri Lankan government. The judge in the court hearing for the refugee applicants also ordered a media ban on the personal details of the applicants from the outset, meaning that some of the articles reporting details about the refugees would have contravened this media ban. Even if Canadian officials delayed the beginning court hearing for "security reasons" (read: "terrorism") so that they could "interview" (read: interrogate) the refugees, so as to delay the inevitable media ban so that Canadian tabloid newspapers could immediately publish details of the refugees without legal or factual accountability, that doesn't excuse the obligations to uphold international obligations in these matters. Australian newspapers have been in sync with the Canadian newspapers, to the extent of writing vignettes on Ocean Viking individuals and followup articles to further insinuate, which in some cases involved sharing information.
Now, the only thing that these governments gain is political points among their domestic constituencies. It makes them look good to "be tough on" (read: make an example of) these sinister, dark-skinned, scary, evil refugees, who also might steal jobs and drain government money in a tough economy when "honest, hard-working" Canadians and/or Australians struggle to make ends meet. And all this irresponsible media plays in really well into government policy to pander to the majority, especially in Canada. But at the end of the day, they have to respect the basic human decency shrined in international laws. You can't go around quoting fake experts, as both countries have done, just to further your agenda, when you know your obligations run counter to this, and hope to get away if the democracy is functioning properly. Especially when your case to deport the refugees (read: send back to Sri Lanka, where they will most likely be tortured and killed) is based on a person who has been thoroughly scrutinized and discredited a full 6 years ago.
Statements
Letter concerning confidentiality of claimant information
The following letter was sent by CCR and Amnesty International Canada
22 October 2009
The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P.
Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1L1
The Honourable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety Canada
Public Safety Canada
269 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0P8
Dear Ministers,
We are writing to express our grave concern at media reports that Canadian government authorities have been collaborating with Sri Lankan authorities in establishing the identity of the 76 individuals who recently arrived by boat on the West Coast. Given that these persons appear to be claiming Canada’s protection as refugees, such collaboration with the government of the country from which they fled is completely inappropriate.
As you know, personal information about refugee claimants must be kept confidential. This principle is recognized internationally, including in numerous Conclusions of the UNHCR Executive Committee, as well as in Canada’s own legislation, which provides for refugee hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board to be held in private. This is for the protection both of the persons who are making a claim and of others such as family members or colleagues who might be put at risk if claimant information is disclosed.
It is particularly dangerous for information to be shared with government authorities from the country that the claimants fled. In many cases the government is the persecutor.
It is well documented that many serious human rights abuses have been committed by the Sri Lankan government. Numerous Sri Lankans have been recognized as refugees after making a claim in Canada (nearly 1,000 in 2008 alone). Sharing information with the Sri Lankan government about claimants may put them or their family members at risk. Information obtained from the Sri Lankan government about claimants in Canada may be unreliable, given that government’s implication in human rights abuses.
We were extremely disturbed to read in the National Post today the name of one of the passengers on board alleged to be “wanted in Sri Lanka for terrorism”. The newspaper attributed its information to “two sources familiar with the investigation”. We request that you make internal investigations to ascertain whether this dangerous leak came from a government source, and ensure no further personal information on any of the passengers is released to the media.
We ask you to take vigorous measures to ensure that all relevant government agencies have in place policies prohibiting inappropriate communications with foreign governments about refugee claimants, and that these policies are respected.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth McWeeny Alex Neve
President, Canadian Council for Refugees Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
Amnesty International Chief Blasts Australia's 'Panic' Over Asylum Seekers
The head of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, says the Australian government should close its immigration detention center on Christmas Island.
Photo: AP
Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International (File Photo)
The head of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, says the Australian government should close its immigration detention center on Christmas Island. On a visit to Australia, Khan accuses the conservative opposition of exploiting voters' fears about asylum seekers for political gain.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan says that holding asylum seekers at the Christmas Island processing center will not deter the flow of boat people heading to Australia.
On a visit to Canberra this week, Khan urged the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to close the camp in the Indian Ocean, about 2,600 kilometers northwest of Perth.
The facility opened last year and houses asylum seekers recently picked up by the Australian navy.
A surge of unauthorized arrivals by boat has put the issue of immigration back in the public spotlight in Australia. Khan says the debate here has often been xenophobic.
The Amnesty International chief blames conservative politicians for whipping up public hysteria.
"I think it is unscrupulous politicians and populist media," Khan said. "There has been a lot of fuss being made about the boat arrivals when actually the numbers arriving by air are much higher. There seems to be a sense of panic when what is really needed here is to handle a humanitarian problem with regard to international standards."
She says the number of boat arrivals in Australia is small compared those arriving in Europe.
Khan, however, calls the Rudd government's immigration policies an improvement on those of the previous conservative administration. She points out Mr. Rudd's decision to grant permanent residency rather than temporary protection visas to those deemed to be genuine refugees and the closure of the outback Woomera detention center and offshore processing facilities in the South Pacific.
Amnesty International says a multilateral approach is needed to deal with the asylum problem.
The Australian government says the surge of migrants arriving by boat is the result of conflicts in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan as well as the global economic crisis.
Australia accepts more than 10,000 refugees a year who are processed through non-governmental agencies in other countries.
Tamils risk all to flee Sri Lanka
Al Jazeera
November 22, 2009
| About 250,000 people fled the final bloody phase of the civil war between the government and separatist Tamil Tigers. They were ultimately housed in government-run camps in the district of Vavuniya. Hundreds of thousands of Tamils' have been displaced in the fighting and are now living in hastily put together refugee camps that have been largely shut off from the outside world. More and more Tamils have been risking their lives - spending weeks on the oceans - in the hopes of reaching Australia. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, in Valaichchenai, Sri Lanka, reports that a new group of asylum-seekers are said to be preparing to board boats on the island's southeastern coast and sail directly to Australia's Christmas Island. Irene Khan, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, says the international community should be more involved in finding a safe home for Sri Lanka's Tamils. "These people are in search of protection, the international community is doing very little," she told Al Jazeera during an interview on Sunday. "It is not people smuggling. I would call it a flow of asylum-seekers." According to Khan, asylum seeking is a growing trend. Negative propaganda Khan said the Australian authorities should speed up the processing of refugees for resettlement in the country and increase the number. "There is a lot of fear and negative propaganda about refugees and asylum-seekers - that these are people looking for a better life, when really, in effect, they are fleeing to save their lives," she said. "There has to be a change in public opinion. Political leaders, and governments in particular, need to take charge to change the way in which refugees and asylum seekers are viewed - these are desperate people in need of protection and it should be provided to them."
"Consequently, not only have there been a diaspora of Sri Lankans travelling to other countries around the world, but there's also been a fundamental lack of jobs and lack of economic growth that, we hope, will come to an end with the end of the civil war earlier this year." In contrast to Khan, who says this is not a case of people being smuggled but a case of flow of refugees, Lom believes "this is a mixed flow of genuine refugees and economic migrants who are coming for a variety of reasons, but primarily economic reasons such as finding better jobs; supporting their families; getting better education for their children - which are all things they they expect to find in Australia. "But what they don't necessarily take into account when coming to that decision is that the streets of industrialised countries are not necessarily paved with gold and that they are probably taking serious risks by putting their lives in the hands of people smugglers". Rising numbers At least 9,612 Sri Lankans applied for asylum in developed countries last year. However, they are part of a far wider problem. The UN says more than 839,000 people worldwide went through legal channels to gain refugee status in 2008.
In Asia-Pacific, Australia is a prime destination for asylum-seekers - at least 13,000 refugees from across the world re-settled in the country last year. That is an increase from just over 10,000 in 2007 - owing to conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka. More than 4500 asylum-seekers arrived by air and were granted temporary status, which allowed them to live in the community while their applications were processed - compared to 161 people who reached Australia by boat. Immigration figures suggest "boat people" are the ones with more genuine claims to refugee status. But in the period their claims are under consideration, they are kept in detention. |
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And in other news, the Australia Refugee Council is unhappy with New Zealand's unwillingness to accept any refugees:
Australia refugee council disappointed in NZ stance on asylum seekers in Australia
Radio New Zealand International
Posted at 05:55 on 20 November, 2009 UTC
The President of Australia’s Refugee Council, John Gibson, says New Zealand is obliged to shoulder some of the resettlement needs arising from the growing number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia.
Canberra is under pressure to resettle up to 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who its customs officers picked up in Indonesian waters last month, triggering a four-week standoff with Jakarta over which country would process the group.
New Zealand has ruled out taking any of the Sri Lankans.
Confirming that Australia had raised the question of taking some, Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said his government was wary of rewarding actions that seek to jump the queue for entry to New Zealand.
John Gibson says it’s a disappointing stance.
“It should really be a matter of trans-Tasman support. One of the boats was headed for New Zealand earlier this year and ran aground in the Torres Strait. Despite the distance between us, we see hopefully some positive developments and that includes other countries of resettlement as well.”
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