Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Bill strips refugees' rights, advocates say

A new bill under debate is dangerous and will strip refugee claim-ants of their most basic rights under Canadian and international law, according to a group of human-rights advocates and refugee lawyers.

The Justice for Refugees and Immigrants Coalition, comprising members from Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Council for Refugees, held a news conference Monday to denounced Bill C-31.

Bill C-31, now at second reading, is an attempt to update the Immigration and Refugee Protections Act in the hopes of speeding the process and limiting a backlog of applicants. It could become law as early as June.

"C-31 is a bill that violates the Canadian Charter of Rights, international law and common sense as well," said Peter Showler of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers. "We believe it is necessary to reform Canada's refugee system, but it is important to do it in a way that has features that are fast, fair and effective. None of these features are contained in Bill C-31."

According to the coalition, C-31 will do away with the current appeal system, will not give claimants enough time to properly prepare their cases and will give far greater powers to the minister of citizenship and immigration.

The new rules will allow the minister to detain refugees for up to 12 months, said Nathalie Des Rosiers of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

"The ability to challenge the detention in front of a court is at the heart of the rule of law," said Des Rosiers. "To deny this to anyone on Canadian soil is a mistake, it is an infringement of human rights and it is wrong. In a democracy we cannot leave unfettered discretionary powers in the government to incarcerate people."

Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: --

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