How to Stay in Canada – One of the Top 10 Refugee Destinations
Canada is among the top 10 destinations for refugees around the world. At the top of the list are countries such as South Africa, the United States, France, Germany, and Italy. Canada ranks 8th or 9th, accepting 25,000 refugees annually.
There is a labyrinth of vocabulary and classifications, and the Canadian system has been severely restricted following changes the Canadian government made in December 2012, with its ‘Protecting Canada’s Immigration System’ Act.
Immigration and Refugee lawyer, Guidy Mamann, a Senior Partner with Mamann, Sandaluk and Kingwell Immigration Lawyers, practices in Toronto. He provides some context to the ways and means of being accepted as a refugee into Canada.
Being able to prove you were persecuted, and lived in fear because of your race, your religion, or nationality, or political opinion, or your membership in a particular political group or social group that is being persecuted, as it is in some countries based on sexual orientation, qualifies you as a UN Convention refugee. Any and all supporting documentation helps.
Guidy Mamann provides a quick overview:
A refugee must also show that there is no state protection available to them in their country of origin and that they cannot relocate to a safe place/city within their country of origin. The threshold can be pretty high and a good job is done by the UN or screening refugees at the first instance. Canada then selects from this pre-screened pool of very vulnerable people. I am glad Canada has a generous policy for welcoming refugees as many Vietnamese, Lebanese and Iranians and even Chinese have come to Canada under the refugee program and gone on to achieve amazing things in education and business.