Deporting refugees who are now permanent residents for visiting their home country
A new, dangerous step taken by Harper against the Canadian immigrant community
Ali Mokhtari
Deporting refugees who are now permanent residents for having visited their home country
In the last days of February, we heard the news that the Canadian conservative government is doing its best to revoke the status of those permanent residents who entered Canadian soil as refugees years ago but have visited the country from which they fled, tried to renew their original passport, or even went to a third country using that passport. Consequently, these refugees are going to be deported. Please see an article in Toronto Star in this regard here.
Some of the people who have experienced this new conservative policy against immigrants and are the subject of deportation have been living in Canada for years and have families, even in some cases a Canadian spouse, and a successful job or business.
I am going to talk about this issue in the following four sections:
- Legal aspects
According to the regulations, anyone who is outside his homeland and fears being prosecuted for having returned to his homeland can seek asylum. According to the Geneva Convention, the fear of prosecution should have a reasonable basis, and the reason for prosecution should involve one’s race, nationality, membership in a specific social or political group, or specific political view. In some cases, the convention is interpreted more openly. For instance, in Canada, it is recognized that women may be prosecuted and punished just because they are women in certain countries. In any case, what really matters in this regard is the risk menacing the asylum seeker. Any untrue statement or any action or behavior showing that the initial statement was not true can cause one’s refugee status to be revoked, which is called cessation. ادامه ی نوشته
