Should every refugee claim be decided on its own merits?

This is a tale of two tales. Not tall tales but real ones siphoned from the storied vaults of the Immigration and Refugee Board this past December. About the only details changed are the claimants’ names, done to protect the innocent (meaning me). Despite what you may think, these are not particularly unique cases—if board members could speak freely, they’d admit it. They can’t. They’d be tossed if they did. Ladies first, so let’s lead with “Lori.” She sobbed about how Roma suffer endemic persecution in Eastern Europe, that she was forced to bundle up her offspring and escape the homeland. Who wouldn’t be moved by testimony given by a weeping mother, desperate to protect her brood? Alas (for her) at least some members are chosen for their vigilance. Lori declined the assistance of an interpreter fluent in the language of her putative patria. Oddly, while her English was perfect, she could not speak her native tongue. And while this traveller saved airline boarding passes, not a scrap of paper exited with her from the "old country." Furthermore, no geographer could locate the town Lori supposedly grew up in. Inquiring minds did, finally, uncover intriguing details about this damsel in distress. Not only had Lori lived for two decades in Western Europe, but her little ones were all born there, far from the Hungarian Plains or Wallachia or wherever she claimed to have decamped from. Obligingly, the constabulary of the country she actually fled sent along a useful document—a lengthy list of her criminal convictions. Bon voyage, Lori. And there was “Raoul.” Born in Damascus but working outside Syria before his country’s devastating war erupted in 2011, Raoul conveniently renewed his passport in 2017 at a Syrian consulate in Dubai. With valid travel document in hand, “Raoul’s” perambulations included visits to Brazil, Switzerland, and Japan, all signatories to the UN convention on refugees. Yet he never made any (known) refugee claim in those countries. Raoul even had a 2017 U.S. visitor’s visa. As his family member vacationed in the Middle East that year, Raoul delayed leaving the region until February 2018. Deplaning in Florida, he moved north leisurely, taking in the sights of Orlando and New York. Eventually presenting himself at our border, in early March, Raoul claimed a “well-founded fear of persecution” should he return to Syria. Asked why he hadn’t declared himself in the U.S., a safe third country, Raoul explained the refugee determination process there is "too tedious." After reviewing this file I recommended a hearing. Raoul is Syrian, but I had questions about his international travels, failure to make a claim until early 2018, and why he feared a government that helpfully renewed his passport, stamped with a 2023 expiry date. Perhaps he had reasonable explanations. Regardless, he would be given the benefit of the doubt. We never return anyone to a country where they might be in harm’s way. I’m OK with that. However, I never got to ask Raoul anything. The board booted me before I could. But don’t fret. Members are "encouraged" to expedite Syrian claims to reduce the backlog, often after the only most cursory of reviews. So Raoul is surely amongst us. Naturally, this prejudice cheers the refugee lobbyists and brings tears of joy (or relief?) to claimants’ eyes. As for me? Well, I once believed the IRB line about how every claim must be considered carefully and decided on its own merits. That’s a fib. There are some 73,000 claims backlogged, with wait times hovering around two years. In 2018, some 14,790 refugee claims were accepted, while 8,759 were rejected, and 1,376 abandoned. All claimants receive mandated social benefits, costing Canadians aplenty. Meanwhile, the Trudeau government just dropped another $208-million in the IRB’s begging bowl, on top of millions doled out last year. Some was set aside to provide Richard Wex, the board’s chairperson, with a chauffeur and rented SUV, on top of his six-figure salary, according to a Toronto Star report. This perk costs around $78,000 annually, about the salary of a member. How treating Mr. Wex helps clear up the backlog he can better explain than me. The strangers who try to get inside our gates say the lands they left behind were “shit holes.” Canada isn’t. So this raconteur won’t mean-mouth anyone trying to get in. But no reasonable person would conclude “Lori” or “Rail” were genuine refugees. Of course, if I had just kept my mouth shut about all of this I’d still be working for the board. Silly me. Lubomyr Luciuk is a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. The Hill Times

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Should every refugee claim be decided on its own merits?

There are some 73,000 claims backlogged, with wait times hovering around two years. All claimants receive mandated social benefits, costing Canadians aplenty.

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