The RPCD is a secure document issued to refugee claimants, after a refugee claim is referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), which confirms [2]:

• you made a refugee claim (either eligible or not)
• if you’re eligible for health coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP)

Beginning August 8, 2022, impacted refugee claimants can now mail their completed RPCD request package to the IRCC office in Winnipeg. Once a request is processed, claimants will receive their renewed document by mail or in person at a local office.

RPCDs that expired before January 2020 will be renewed at a later date. In the interim, all expired RPCDs remain valid until further notice.

For more information regarding the process of renewing or replacing your RPCD, please click here.

Sources

The post IRCC resumes the renewal of expired refugee protection claimant documents first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

Two definitions are necessary here. First, DCO’s “are countries that respect human rights, offer state protection, and normally do not produced refugees”, are “safe”, and determined to be DCO’s by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada based on qualitative and quantitative measures, according to the Respondent in Feher.[2] Second, a PRRA enables refugee claimants to present new facts or evidence of risk of persecution, torture, cruel and unusual treatment or punishment or risk to life to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) prior to removal. A positive PRRA leads to protected person status and allows the person to remain in Canada and apply for permanent residence. A negative PRRA results in removal although judicial review of the PRRA decision is possible.

Feher combined five individual applications from persons who feared removal to Hungary, a DCO, and had made refugee claims based on their Roma ethnicity and in one case also based on gender-based violence. The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers was also an applicant. The refugee claims in question had been refused and CBSA had directed the applicants to report for removal. Because the waiting period of 36 months had not elapsed, the applicants were ineligible for a PRRA. They had asked CBSA to defer the removal but were denied, leading them to seek judicial review of the refusals.[3]

The applicants in Feher challenged the constitutionality of paragraph 112(2)(b.1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which they claimed were based on stereotypes about DCO claimants.[4] They successfully argued that DCO claimants were treated differently from non-DCO claimants and the differential treatment was based on national origin, discriminatory and violated the equality guarantee found in subsection 15(1) of the Charter.[5] The applicants relied in part on Y.Z.[6] and Canadian Doctors[7].[8]

The Honourable Justice Boswell held in Feher:

“It was not necessary, in my view, for Parliament to differentiate between DCO and non-DCO claimants when imposing a restriction on when a failed refugee claimant could access a PRRA. Timely access to a PRRA is a significant benefit for failed refugee claimants and delaying this access to some claimants based on their country of origin impairs their right to equality.”[9]

The Court also noted that because the majority of failed claimants “are generally removed from Canada” before the 12-month waiting period is up “most failed refugee claimants will never be able to access a PRRA regardless of whether they are or are not a DCO claimant”.[10] However, Feher still represents a victory for Romani refugee claimants and DCO claimants more generally because it enhances the possibility of remaining in Canada due to a positive PRRA.

Despite Feher, there remain significant disadvantages for DCO claimants in comparison to the treatment of non-DCO claimants under the IRPA and its regulations.[11] Furthermore, Justice Boswell certified two questions, which means an appeal of Feher could be initiated in the coming weeks.

Sources

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The post Federal Court Reduces Wait Time for Refugee Claimants From “Safe” Countries to Apply for PRRA first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

Click to listen to Chris Collette on AM900CHML, as he discusses the refugee claimant crossing situation in Manitoba!

The post Chris Collette discusses the refugee claimant crossing situation in Manitoba on AM900CHML! first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

I have recently been involved in research where I, along with a team of researchers at the University of Oxford, analyze representations by lawyers and government officials in refugee hearings. Through my observations and interviews, I notice that there is at times an attempt to shoehorn the complex realities of clients into specific narratives. This can lead to an oversimplification and lend itself to an exaggeration of certain aspects of the applicant’s life. For instance, where an individual has only played a small role in a political organization back home, that role can be overstated for the sake of the asylum claim. I observed this in hearings repeatedly.

Although representing an applicant’s life in a compelling narrative is an important litigation strategy, one should proceed with caution for a number of reasons. First, taking a black-and-white approach might be inaccurate and as such, at odds with ethical obligations. It is important to be careful to present facts in a persuasive yet accurate manner.

Second, a client might actually be prejudiced by the presentation of an overly simplistic and inaccurate portrayal because such a narrative cannot be substantiated by evidence. Third, judges and tribunal members might find the oversimplification to be an unrealistic account of the case, and this in turn can call into question the credibility of all the evidence proffered in the case.

The success of our clients is of great importance to us as are our ethical obligations. It is important to present a refugee application persuasively but accurately.

For more information on claiming refugee protection, click here.

The post Representation of Refugee Claimants first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.