Une alliance nationale visant à fournir une base factuelle pour l'établissement et l'intégration des nouveaux arrivants, ainsi que pour la promotion de communautés accueillantes au Canada
La revue de presse fournit des liens aux articles récents et archivés, à la fois en anglais et en français, sur l’immigration et la diversité lesquels ont été publiés dans les média locaux et nationaux. Il y a également des articles internationaux. Cette section est mise à jour hebdomadairement.
Maclean’s – Which Refugees Are Better Than Others?
The country is devouring all its children in almost equal measure. That includes Syria’s confessional majority: Sunni Muslims. If the wrath of the so-called Islamic State has come down disproportionately on non-Sunni Muslims—Yazidis, Shias, Alawites and Christians—then that of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s mostly Alawite regime has focused on the Sunni Muslim majority. This is what makes Canada’s policy on whom it would prefer to admit as a refugee problematic. “We will prioritize persecuted ethnic and religious minorities, those at demonstrated risk, and we make no apologies for that,” Costas Menegakis, parliamentary secretary to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, said in December. A policy that favours religious minorities in Syria would, by definition, discriminate against Sunni Muslims, because of their majority status in the country. […] The criteria also reportedly favour those the government believes are more likely to successfully integrate in Canada, such as people who speak French or English, have run a business or have family in Canada.
The Record – Refugee Audit Didn’t Include Church Groups
Privately sponsored refugees were exempted from the Conservative government’s security audit of the Syrian refugee resettlement program, raising questions about whether it’s because most probably aren’t Muslim. The Conservative government ordered a review of some Syrian refugee cases this summer as a result of intelligence reports suggesting refugees could pose a threat. […] Of the 11,300 Syrian refugees the government has committed to resettling since the start of the Syrian war, the vast majority are being resettled by private groups, mostly churches. But the June audit was carried out only on government-assisted refugee cases, including those already in Canada and those still in the queue, forcing a halt to processing those files for several weeks. “The processing of privately sponsored refugees continued throughout this period,” said Chris Day, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. Only UN-referred refugee files were audited as the government knows less about those cases when they arrive for processing than they do about refugees being brought to Canada by private groups, said a government source speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the system.
Toronto Star – Government Asks RCMP to Investigate Citizenship Leak to Media
The government is calling in the RCMP to investigate another highly sensitive leak to the media, this time at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to media reports. […] “Leaks such as these are unethical and are against the law,” a memo obtained by the broadcaster read. “As such, we have contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who have now launched an investigation. The trust that the public, our partners and elected officials have in us is the cornerstone of our democratic functions.” Citizenship and Immigration spokespeople would not confirm the investigation Friday evening, except to say the department would take action. “In instances where an unauthorized disclosure of information is suspected, standard investigative measures are followed,” wrote Rémi Larivière in an email to the Star. It’s not clear what law, if any, could have been broken. But two separate leaks this week — one to the Globe and Mail, the other to CTV News — detail an audit reportedly ordered by the Prime Minister’s Office into the background of Syrian refugees. Unnamed sources told CTV that PMO staff discouraged the acceptance of Sunni and Shia Muslims fleeing the war-torn country, and went through files to ensure persecuted religious minorities were given preference.
Winnipeg Free Press – Refugee Program Should Not Be Privatized
In refugee policy, sponsorship is in addition, or complementary, to government resettlement. […] Yet more and more of Canadian resettlement is done by private sponsors and less and less is done by the government. In 2001, the government resettled close to 9,000 refugees whereas by 2013 it brought in fewer than 6,000. Private sponsorships, meanwhile, almost doubled over the same decade from 3,570 to 6,396. In 2013, the government started a blended resettlement option where sponsors cover six months of financial support and the government provides the other six months. Sponsors still provide the full year of social and emotional support. This is a tempting option for sponsors as the government is covering half their costs. But the reality is sponsors are covering half the government costs as 1,000 spaces were taken out of the government program to create the cost-sharing model.
The Globe and Mail – Refugee Arrivals Surge in Greece with Bad Weather Ahead: IOM
The number of refugees arriving on Greek islands has leaped to 7,000 a day from about 4,500 at the end of September, probably because of fears the weather will worsen soon, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. The sharp increase, in a matter of days, has come as European states continue to struggle to agree on a strategy to control the flow of people and protect thousands making perilous sea crossings. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, urged the European Union on Friday to come up with a credible system soon, and warned the unpredictable weather could lead to more deaths. […] On Saturday, he will visit reception centres on the Greek island of Lesbos, the main entry point for most of the 428,000 people who have crossed the Mediterranean from Turkey so far this year. Almost 3,000 have died, the UN refugee agency UNHCR estimates. Authorities on the island say they are running out of room to bury them.
The Globe and Mail – Harper Defends How Refugees are Processed
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says his government prioritizes vulnerable religious and ethnic groups for refugee processing because they are being targeted by Islamic State for “extermination,” even as critics accused his government of crafting a discriminatory policy. […] He said his government’s policy is not “exclusionary” but is an important factor in making refugee decisions. Responding to a suggestion the government is offering preferential treatment to Christians and minorities and not to Muslims, Mr. Harper said vulnerable communities in Syria are not exclusively Christian, but also include certain Muslim sects and other groups. Mr. Harper was responding to a Globe and Mail story that revealed Canada aims to prioritize some Syrian refugees for processing based on characteristics that include their religion, the age of their children and whether they’ve run a business. The criteria, known as areas of focus, which had never been disclosed publicly, also favour those who speak English or French fluently; those residing outside refugee camps; and women between the ages of 20 and 40 who are victims of violence. Most of these categories also require refugees to have family in Canada, among other criteria.
