Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Zikri Refugee Claims in Canada

Summary: Refugee claims from members of religious minorities in Pakistan, including the Zikri community, have been handled by the author and taken to the Federal Court for review. The Zikri community has been targeted and persecuted by extremist groups, leading them to conceal their religious identity for safety reasons. The author cites a number of documents, including the UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines and reports from Human Rights Watch and Minority Rights Group International, that outline the challenges faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and the failure of authorities to provide adequate protection. The Zikri community is at risk of being in a similar position to the Ahmadi community in Pakistan due to rising extremism and persecution. The refugee claims were accepted on the day of the hearing but the author noted a reliance on an old IRB RIR and highlighted the more recent information available in the National Documentation Package and further disclosure. I have handled a number of refugee claims by members of religious minorities from Pakistan (including, unfortunately, taking one unexpected refusal to the Federal Court for judicial review). There is good reason to grant refugee protection to those individuals that have been targeted or have a certain profile.... Read more →

Is the border crossing surge a "crisis"? Interview on AM770 with Rob Breakenridge September 12, 2018 #cdnimm

R Breakenridge: The asylum seekers debate isn't going away anytime soon. But more to it, I mean the problem itself isn't going away anytime soon. Reasonable people can disagree on how big a problem it is or whether it warrants the term crisis, but it's clearly a situation that we're not prepared to deal that, this is stretching our resources when it comes to processing people who are arriving in Canada and claiming asylum. We get people every year that step foot in Canada, claim asylum. We review their claim, and once the decisions made about whether that claim's legitimate, that person either gets to stay or they're ordered to leave. R Breakenridge: But because of the increase in the numbers of people who have been walking across from the US into Canada, primarily in Quebec, or at least that's where the bulk of it's been as of late, it seems as though maybe it's more than the system can handle. I guess we'll get around to all of these claims eventually, but what's the risk of letting the system build up a significant backlog? R Breakenridge: Story in The Globe and Mail today on some numbers around this. The... Read more →

Canada's border and the migrant issue - Interview on CBC's The National - September 4, 2018

Adrienne Arsenault: War and persecution and poverty have put this planet on the move. As physically removed as Canada may be from some of that, this country cannot escape the reality of people trying to find refuge here. But who's coming, how they're being treated, is the sort of subject that sometimes draws far more heat than light here. It gets angry very fast. We'll be tackling the matter of migration, throughout the next few months. But who's fleeing, what are they running from? These are questions we need to answer. Tonight though, in The National Conversation, it is time to talk about one border in particular, Canada's. Pam Damoff: Is there a crisis in Canada, right now? Ralph Goodale: There is a challenge, but it is not a crisis. Adrienne Arsenault: With Canada's border, there is rhetoric and reality. Two years ago the RCMP arrested 2,400 people crossing the border irregularly. So far this year, it's more than 12,000. Border Guard: Are you sure that you want the beginning of your life in Canada to start with a [crosstalk 00:01:08]? Immigrants: Yeah. Definitely. Yes. Adrienne Arsenault: Some may think this is a matter of people sneaking in, but these... Read more →

A National Conversation - Questions and Answers on the Migrant/Border Crossing Issue

Adrienne A.: No, we won't be here that long, I promise you. You get a little bit of a break. Speaker 2: [inaudible 00:00:06] Adrienne A.: Yes it's on right now. Speaker 2: We're live. Adrienne A.: Excellent. Thanks, everybody, for stepping up and joining us. Maybe it's Periscope, maybe it's Facebook, maybe it's YouTube. I'm Adrienne Arsenault, one of the 37 hosts of The National. No, sorry, there are only four of us. We are having what we call a national conversation, and we're going to have a lot of them in the next little while, but this one's really important. Joining me is Avvy Go. Avvy works at the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. You deal every single day with people in need. Raj Sharma, thank you for joining us. Raj used to work at the Immigration Refugee Board of Canada, now an immigration lawyer in Calgary. You guys are on the front line of this. What is this? This is the big question. We are in an era now where people are on the move on this planet in extraordinary ways. There are all sorts of pressures that are pushing people to leave. Obviously you have... Read more →