Overseas Protection and Resettlement

That the CCR:

1. Call on the appropriate departments of the Government of Canada to:

    

   a)remind visa offices of the often broader interpretation of the Refugee Convention in Canadian law than that demonstrated by some other countries, particularly with respect to the absence of a requirement for persecution to be at the hands of the state;

   b)ensure that in cases where the applicant does not meet the Convention definition but has a private sponsorship that the relatively broader provisions of the Asylum Class are thoroughly considered;

   c)strengthen and regularize consultation between visa offices and local and Canadian NGOs involved in resettlement;

   d)establish and implement a meaningful review of negative decisions on resettlement cases similar to that recently adopted by US INS;

2. Call on the Government of Canada to play a prominent role in convincing other governments to interpret the Convention in a broad manner;
3. Ask the Government of Canada to urge other governments to allow applicants for resettlement in Canada to remain in their countries of asylum pending determination of their applications by Canada.

That the CCR:

1. Continue to call for a repeal of the Right of Landing Fee for all newcomers accepted for landing in Canada;
2. Insist that no interest be charged on any immigration loans;
3. Urge the government, pending legislation to repeal interest charges, to charge no more than the prime rate.

That the CCR adopt as its position its paper Conditions for the Involvement of NGOs as Overseas Service Partners.

That the CCR:

1. Send congratulations to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords on their historic decision upholding the primacy of human rights over state rights;
2. Send a message to the United Kingdom Home Secretary urging him to uphold the primacy of human rights over political considerations and to allow the extradition proceedings against General Pinochet to go ahead, or prosecute him in Great Britain for his crimes against humanity, and request the government of Canada to send a similar message;
3. Urge the government of Canada to institute criminal proceedings against General Pinochet in the above mentioned cases and request his extradition from the United Kingdom to Canada.

That the CCR wholeheartedly embrace the international campaign for people's opinion tribunals to judge and allocate responsibility for the May 16, 1998massacre in Barrancabermeja, Colombia

That the CCR urge Canada to provide funding for the continuation of the firewood program for Dadaab, Kenya.

That the CCR ask the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to commit the resources and methods necessary to select and interview and immediately process for resettlement the persons concerned who are in very urgent need of protection.

That the CCR urge:

1. The government of Canada to recognize the urgent resettlement need of refugees from Sierra Leone including torture victims, women and children at risk, and refugees with family links in Canada;
2. The UNHCR to provide immediate protection for refugees from Sierra Leone as per its operational mandate, which includes:

   (a) Protection from physical harm,

   (b) Working with appropriate organizations to meet the total needs of the refugees;

   (c) Ensuring that the basic human rights of the refugees are upheld.

3. The government of Canada to donate generously to the relief operations for refugees from Sierra Leone.

That the CCR call on:

1. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to investigate, and, where justified, prosecute any and all substantial allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia, whether the allegations are made against the Yugoslav government forces or paramilitary groups, the Kosovo Liberation Army or the NATO forces and whether the allegations are made against the leadership of those forces or the rank and file;
2. The Government of Canada:
   a) to withdraw from and cease its participation in the NATO military action against Yugoslavia;
   b) to seek a peaceful negotiated solution to the crisis in Yugoslavia through the United Nations;
3. The Government of Yugoslavia:
   a) to stop any repressive action against the civilian population of Kosovo;
   b) to stop attacks by its security forces on the civilian population;
   c) to withdraw all security units used for civilian repression;
   d) to cooperate fully with international efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Kosovo;
   e) to allow all refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes in safety;
   f) to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

That the CCR:

1. Write to UNHCR to welcome the protection initiative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and to encourage UNHCR to apply a similar program in comparable situations in other world regions;
2. Write to CIC to:

   a) Welcome the Canadian response to this program for refugees from war and urge Canada to respond in a comparable way to future similar appeals from UNHCR;

   b) Express our appreciation of the possibility of permanent residence in the Canadian program and caution that the wishes of the refugee must be paramount;

   c) Urge Canada to bring other refugees nominated by UNHCR as in urgent need of protection in an equally swift manner;

   d) Urge Canada to extend to other refugees in Canada equally fast family reunification and the extended Interim Federal Health Program.

   e) Ask Canada to urge other countries, including Sweden, not to use the Kosovo appeal as a rationale for reducing existing resettlement programs.