CIMM Committee Report

THE REFUGEE STATUS DETERMINATION SYSTEM

A. Detention

The Committee recommends that:

1. Refugee claimants who appear to be arriving as part of an organized trafficking operation be detained as flight risks until their refugee claims are fully disposed of.

2. The fact that "trafficked" migrants will very likely be detained upon apprehension in Canada be widely communicated in the migrants’ countries of origin, including by means of information videos.

3. Refugee claimants who refuse to cooperate in establishing their identity be detained.

4. Immigration detention facilities be found, or built, that are appropriate to the situation.

B. Initial Considerations Regarding a Refugee Claim

The Committee recommends that:

Criminal and security checks be initiated as soon as a person makes a claim to refugee status.

Refugee claimants’ fingerprints and photographs be taken at the first point of contact with immigration officials.

Immigration officers at ports of entry question refugee claimants to ascertain the general thrust of their refugee claims, their travel routes to Canada, and any other information relevant to their claims.

Questioning of refugee claimants at ports of entry be conducted in a sensitive and compassionate manner in recognition of the trauma that they may have suffered.

Refugee claimants be advised that it is important to answer all questions honestly and to the best of their ability at the port of entry and that to be untruthful or uncooperative with the authorities will work against them when the time comes for the Board to determine their claims.

10. Immigration officers at the port of entry identify two types of claims for priority processing at the Board:

(a) claims that appear highly meritorious; and

(b) claims that allege persecution in countries that are not normally refugee-producing.

11. The government explore the feasibility of having designated Refugee Division members on call for cases where immigration officers identify strong refugee claims during the course of their interviews at the port of entry.

12. The senior immigration officer at the port of entry ascertain the objective facts regarding eligibility from the initial interview, thus enabling the immediate transfer of the file to the Board.

13. The period required between repeat refugee claims be lengthened to one year.

14. Instead of access to the Board for a full hearing, repeat claimants receive a pre-removal risk review. This review would examine whether there was any new evidence regarding the claim and whether there had been a change of circumstances in the person’s country of origin. If not, the person would be removed.

15. The criteria regarding eligibility to make a refugee claim be expanded to preclude claims from those who are believed on reasonable grounds to be engaged in organized crime.

16. Although to date it has not been operational, the safe country return provision remain in the law and the government actively continue to pursue bilateral and multilateral agreements concerning safe country return provisions.

17. The government report the progress made, and all safe country return agreements reached, to the House of Commons and the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on an annual basis.

18. There be a time limit of 30 days following arrival in Canada within which an individual would be required to make a refugee claim. An exception should be made where there exist compelling circumstances in a claimant’s situation.

C. The Refugee Hearing

The Committee recommends that:

19. The Refugee Division sit in one-member panels, with the option of sitting in three-member panels to hear test cases or cases that pose particular difficulties.

20. There be an internal appeal structure at the Board for rejected refugee claimants, to which only the most experienced members be appointed.

21. All of the risk-related decisions concerning an individual be consolidated at the Refugee Division.

22. The Refugee Division strive to increase the percentage of claims handled through the expedited process.

23. The current restrictions on the participation of the Minister’s representative in a refugee hearing be eliminated and the government be more active than it has been in the past in choosing cases in which to intervene, while maintaining the independence of the Board.

24. The Minister be permitted to institute proceedings to vacate a decision that a person is a Convention refugee without first seeking the permission of the Chairperson of the Board. Citizenship and Immigration Canada should be more alert to cases in which the vacation procedure would be appropriate.

25. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade provide timely and relevant information on country conditions and individual cases directly to the Immigration and Refugee Board.

D. Other Matters Related to the Refugee Determination System

The Committee recommends that:

26. Appointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board be based on merit so that all members of the Board are of the highest possible calibre.

27. The Immigration and Refugee Board continue to focus on and upgrade the training and professional development of its members.

28. Initial appointments to the Board be relatively short but successful members be reappointed to longer terms.

29. Citizenship and Immigration Canada tighten its procedures following rejection of a refugee claim in order to increase the chances that the person will actually be removed from Canada.

BORDER SECURITY

A. Issues Relating to Immigration Documents

The Committee recommends that:

30. The government and the airline industry examine the feasibility of preparing a multilingual pamphlet explaining to passengers that airlines act as agents for the government in ensuring that the requirements of Canadian law concerning the required travel documents are met.

31. The stationing of Canadian immigration control officers (ICOs) abroad to intercept improperly documented passengers before they can board airplanes for Canada be expanded. The possibility of links, such as a telephone hotline, between locations with an ICO and those without should be explored.

32. Passengers who are intercepted and not allowed to proceed to Canada be referred to Canadian missions or to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

33. Citizenship and Immigration Canada make it a high priority to continue researching technology for scanning the travel documents of people coming to Canada on flights that have presented control problems. A pilot project should begin as soon as possible.

34. Citizenship and Immigration Canada expand the practice of document checks for passengers disembarking from flights that have presented problems.

35. Citizenship and Immigration Canada continue its efforts to enhance the security features on all its official documents, making replacement of the IMM 1000 permanent resident card a high priority.

B. Targeting People Traffickers and Smugglers

The Committee recommends that:

/36. The law governing the proceeds of crime be extended to proceeds from immigration offences relating to organizing the entry into Canada of those without the proper documents. Any proceeds recovered should revert to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to be added to their enforcement resources.

37. Individuals who are convicted of immigration offences relating to organizing the entry into Canada of those without proper documents be inadmissible to Canada if abroad, or removable from Canada if already in the country.

38. There be a new offence, with significant penalties, in both the Criminal Code and the Immigration Act for assisting in the trafficking of human beings on Canadian territory.

39. There be a new offence for people who assist others to come to Canada through fraud or misrepresentation.

40. Measures be introduced to hold financially accountable those in Canada who sponsor visitors who later prove not to have been genuine.

C. Concerns of the Transportation Companies

The Committee recommends that:

41. Citizenship and Immigration Canada work with the transportation industry to resolve their longstanding complaints, particularly those that result from delays in government-mandated processes that are beyond the control of the industry.

D. International Cooperation

The Committee recommends that:

42. Canada continue to place the highest importance on working with other countries to combat human trafficking, and urge other countries to recognize human trafficking as a crime against humanity that should be treated as an international crime.

43. The government continue to place particular importance on cooperation between Canada and the United States with respect to border issues, including the cooperative surveillance of our coastlines in view of the unauthorized arrival in each country of boats carrying migrants.

44. The government urge other countries to create a criminal offence of organizing, or conspiring to organize, the illegal entry of individuals into another country.

45. When migration is driven by human rights abuses in a particular country, Canada make every effort to encourage that country to improve its human rights record.

CONCLUSION

The Committee recommends that:

46. The government of Canada increase the resources to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and the RCMP so that they will be able to meet the challenges posed by traffickers in people and ensure the safety and security of Canada and its people.