Acquiring Permanent Status: Refugee Resettlement

• Author: Jamie Chai Yun Liew; Donald Galloway
• Pages: 227-242

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CHAPTER 8

ACQUIRING

PERMANENT STATUS:

REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

A. INTRODUCTION: RESETTLEMENT AS

A DURABLE SOLUTION

In 2013, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

or the UNHCR:

51.2 million individuals wer e forcibly displaced worldwide as a result

of persecution, conf‌lict, generalized violence, or human rights viola-

tions. Some 16.7 million persons were refugees: 11.7 million under

UNHCR’s mandate and 5.0 million Palestinian refugees registered

by UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency]. The global

f‌igure included 33.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and

close to 1.2 million asylum-seekers. If these 51.2 million persons

were a nation, they would make up the 26th largest nation in the

world.1

In framing its response to a situation of such staggering proportions,

the UNHCR has developed three “durable solutions” to address the

plight of populations that have f‌led across borders en masse: (1) vol-

untary repatriation; (2) local integration in the countr y of f‌irst asylum;

1 UN High Commi ssioner for Refugees, “UNHCR Global Trends 2013: War’s Hu-

man Cost” (20 June 2014), online: UNHCR w ww.unhcr.org/5399a14f9.html at 2.

IMMIGRATION LAW228

and (3) resettlement.2 Resettlement occurs when “refugees are selected

and transferred from the country of refuge to a third State which has

agreed to admit them as refugees with permanent residence status”3

with the possibility of obtaining citizenship.4 It is proposed not only

as a durable solution but also as “a mechanism for refugee protec-

tion . . . and an element of responsibility sharing with refugee-hosting

countries.”5 This chapter focuses on Canada’s policies and practices of

resettlement.6

B. CANADA’S RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM

1) Overview

Canada’s resettlement program, initiated in 1978, is administered by

the Department of Citize nship and Immigration Canada (CIC).7 Its main

objectives are “to save lives, offer protection to the displaced and per-

secuted, meet Canada’s international legal obligations with respect to

refugees, and respond to international crises by providing assistance

to those in need of resettlement.”8

The number of persons who are annually resettled in Canada and

who acquire permanent resident status is not large. In 2013, only 5,756

government-assisted refugees (GARs) were admitted, a f‌igure 15 per-

cent below target. In addition, 6,277 privately sponsored refugees were

admitted.9 Although the federal government hoped to increase the

number of resettled refugees to as many as 13,900 in 2014, it is as yet

unclear whether the target was reached.10 Nevertheless, the Canadian

2 UN High Commi ssioner for Refugees, UNHCR Resettle ment Handbook: Divisio n

of Internati onal Protection, revised ed (Geneva: Un ited Nations High Commis-

sioner for Refugees, 2011) at 11.

3 Ibid at 28.

4 Ibid at 36.

5 Ibid.

6 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,SC 2 001, c 27, s 12(3) [IRPA].

7 Government of Ca nada, UNHCR Resettleme nt Handbook, Country Chapte rs –

Canada, revised ed (Ottawa: Gover nment of Canada, 2014) at 2–3 [UNHCR

Resettlement Handbook, Canada Chapter]; see also IRPA, above note 6, s 12(3).

8 UNHCR Resettlement Hand book, Canada Chapter, above note 7 at 3.

9 Citizenship and Im migration Canada, Annu al Report to Parliament on Immigra-

tio n 2013 (Ottawa: Cit izenship and Immigr ation Canada, 2013) at 17.

10Ibid at 17–18. See also UNHCR Resettle ment Handbook, Canad a Chapter, above

note 7at 6: The range for refugee re settlement admissions i n 2014 was 11,800 to

14,200.