The
following is a letter as sent to
the editor of the National Post.
James
Bissett's opinion piece Auguest 26th is
one more fix it
message from someone who has been telling
us the refugee system is
broken and
how to fix it since the 80s. As might be
expected the suggestion of a
senior
immigration official and his successors
largely prevailed. Since he now
believes the system is still "broken", why
would anyone expect his
current prescription to be any better
"fix" than his earlier
suggestions?
Bissett
misrepresents the situation. A refugee
status
determination system has only one goal. It
is to ensure a refugee gets
the
protection promised for that international
status. The rest is cloaks,
mirrors
and distraction. Every "fix" from Bissett
and the immigration control
colleagues has reduced due
process and fairness for some in the
name of administrative or political
convenience and produced a complex
messy
system. Small groups have been shunted
away from a simple fair hearing
by the
independent body trained to do the job.
The discretionary decisions of
the
immigration authorities streamed groups
away using plausible but
ultimately
unfair reasons like they are considered
criminals or a security risk.
Some get
sent back to the US if they came across
the border. Now
he suggests special treatment for those
from a list of countries the authorities
deem safe. The list of groups
excluded
from a simple fair hearing just keeps on
growing. While this is a make
work
program for immigration officials, the
administration of all this does
not seem
that simple and streamlining. Then one has
to ask whether this helps
the aim of
the system. These screenings can hardly be
expected to "fix" a system
whose aim is ensuring a refugee gets
protection. One has to wonder
whether it
wouldn't be better to just give all those
seeking refugee status a fair
hearing and staff the agency
equipped to do the job adequately.
TOP
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