Canadian Health Personnel Attitudes Toward Refugee Claimants’ Entitlement to Health Care

Health care personnel attitudes toward refugee claimant entitlement to health care are influenced by multilevel factors including institutional and societal culture. Although individual attitudes may be modified through training, macro- and meso-issues require system-level interventions. This paper analyzes the role of individual-, institutional-, and city-level factors in shaping attitudes toward refugee claimants’ access to health care among Canadian health care personnel. A total of 4207 health care personnel in 16 institutions located in Montreal and Toronto completed an online survey on attitudes regarding health care access for refugee claimants. We used multilevel logistic regression analysis to identify individual-, institutional-, and city-level predictors of endorsing access to care. Participants who had prior contact with refugee claimants had greater odds of endorsing access to care than those who did not (OR 1.13; 95% CI 1.05, 1.21). Attitudes varied with occupation: social workers had the highest probability of endorsing equal access to health care (.83; 95% CI .77, .89) followed by physicians (.77; 95% CI .71, .82). An estimated 7.97% of the individual variation in endorsement of equal access to health care was attributable to differences between institutions, but this association was no longer statistically significant after adjusting for city residence. Results indicate that the contexts in which health care professionals live and work are important when understanding opinions on access to health care for vulnerable populations. They suggest that institutional interventions promoting a collective mission to care for vulnerable populations may improve access to health care for precarious status migrants.

Stepping-Stones to Security: An Analysis of the Safe Third Country Agreement

This major research paper examines the impacts of the Safe Third Country Agreement on North American cross border relations and on potential refugee claimants seeking to file status claims in Canada and the United States. The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States was implemented on 29 December 2004 and will be examined in light of its relations to state security and human security. The paper will seek to address how the Safe Third Country Agreement has impacted bilateral communications between Canada and the United States, how the Agreement has woked in a post-9/11 era, and how Canada and the United States have maintained their international obligations. Similarly, this research paper will examine how the Agreement has impacted refugee claimants attempting to come to Canada, as well as the potential risks and challenges that the Agreement presents to refugees and those working with them.

Stepping-Stones to Security: An Analysis of the Safe Third Country Agreement

This major research paper examines the impacts of the Safe Third Country Agreement on North American cross border relations and on potential refugee claimants seeking to file status claims in Canada and the United States. The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States was implemented on 29 December 2004 and will be examined in light of its relations to state security and human security. The paper will seek to address how the Safe Third Country Agreement has impacted bilateral communications between Canada and the United States, how the Agreement has woked in a post-9/11 era, and how Canada and the United States have maintained their international obligations. Similarly, this research paper will examine how the Agreement has impacted refugee claimants attempting to come to Canada, as well as the potential risks and challenges that the Agreement presents to refugees and those working with them.

Interpreting the other other : assessing refugee claims based on sexual orientation in an anti-refugee climate

This paper investigates some of the challenges in the Canadian refugee determination system facing the fair assessment of refugee claims based on sexual orientation. Relying on the United Nation's Convention definition of refugee, Canada interprets the section "membership of a particular social group," to apply to individuals fearing persecution due to their sexual orientation. This paper reveals the complex nature of refugee determination in cases based on sexual orientation and how decision-makers' Eurocentric conceptions of sexuality, race, gender and nationality, as well as a general anti-refugee climate impede the neutrality of assessment. Relying on personal narratives of those involved with the refugee assessment process, such as past refugee claimants and refugee lawyers, this study reveals the complexity of problems that are inherent in the IRB. Incorporating a critical race perspective allows us to see the damaging effects of Eurocentrism when evaluating multiple identities, such as racialized sexual minorities.

Interpreting the other other : assessing refugee claims based on sexual orientation in an anti-refugee climate

This paper investigates some of the challenges in the Canadian refugee determination system facing the fair assessment of refugee claims based on sexual orientation. Relying on the United Nation's Convention definition of refugee, Canada interprets the section "membership of a particular social group," to apply to individuals fearing persecution due to their sexual orientation. This paper reveals the complex nature of refugee determination in cases based on sexual orientation and how decision-makers' Eurocentric conceptions of sexuality, race, gender and nationality, as well as a general anti-refugee climate impede the neutrality of assessment. Relying on personal narratives of those involved with the refugee assessment process, such as past refugee claimants and refugee lawyers, this study reveals the complexity of problems that are inherent in the IRB. Incorporating a critical race perspective allows us to see the damaging effects of Eurocentrism when evaluating multiple identities, such as racialized sexual minorities.

Peyi A Pwomet: The Experience of Haitian Refugee Claimants in Toronto

This study assesses the current Canadian refugee determination process and Canadian refugee policy by comparing it with the narrative experience of Haitian refugee claimants in Toronto, Canada. The analysis was guided by a critical anti-racist framework and forced migration theory. Qualitative research was conducted by interviewing five Haitian refugee claimants and a Haitian community leader, all living in Toronto. The research found that Haitian refugee claimants face a multitude of barriers when navigating through the refugee determination process. A socio-political history of Haiti is provided to contextualize the motivations and factors which have induced Haitian migration. This study is the first of its kind with regard to research focused specifically on the experience of Haitian refugee claimants in Canada and in particular Toronto. It contributes to the very limited existing research on Haitian refugees in Canada.

Failed Refugee Claimants: Negotiating Rights, Security and Citizenship

Individuals and groups engage discursively in relationships and negotiations as they try to structure and influence the social space where they live. This engagement further constructs the social space through the use of concepts, objects and subject positions. This study examines the representation and construction of failed refugee claimants by the Canadian newsprint media. Through the use of the moral panic as envisioned by Stephen Cohen and others, the study employs critical discourse analysis to reveal complex struggles in the Canadian refugee system through the discursive activity of the government, nonprofit agencies and social networks. The study concludes that a moral panic has occurred in the Canadian refugee system and has resulted in the enactment of a new Canadian refugee system through the passing of the Balanced Refugee Reform Act Bill C-11), Protecting Canada’s Immigration Act (Bill C-31) and the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act (Bill C-43).

Long walk to safety : experiences of refugee claimants with Canada's refugee policies and practices

The arrival of refugee claimants in Canada generates interest, controversy and heated debates from the Canadian body politic. Oftentimes, the voices of the refugees are absent from the debates about them and the policies and practices developed to deal with them. Through qualitative interviews, this study examines the experiences of refugees who fled persecution in their countries and came to Canada where they made successful applications for refugee protection. By documenting refugees experiences and their perceptions of these experiences, the study seeks to contribute to the debate on refugees by presenting their perspectives on Canada's inland refugee claim process. The study shows that apart from enduring the pains of persecution from which they fled, refugees also face serious challenges on their journeys to seek refugee protection in Canada. One of the main challenge[s] facing refugees when they arrive in Canada is the complex process of refugee determination and settlement that they have to go through. This paper takes the position that documenting the experiences of successful refugee claimants in Canada can be a good starting point from where to revisit our debates, polices and practices on refugees in a bid to establish a refugee protection system that adequately adheres to national and international refugee legislation while at the same time promoting a more responsive and humane approach to the needs of people fleeing persecution in their respective countries.

Neither Temporary, Nor Permanent: The Precarious Employment Experiences Of Refugee Claimants In Toronto

While Canada’s immigration system is shaped primarily by the nation’s economic needs, refugee claimants’ motivations are, by nature, non-economic. Resultantly, refugee claimants are often portrayed as a drain on Canadian resources. Despite this however, refugee claimants’ employment experiences remain underrepresented in the literature. This study explores the employment experiences of refugee claimants in Toronto, and finds that claimants face distinct and unique barriers stemming from their precarious legal status. Additionally, as neither temporary workers nor permanent citizens, this study finds that refugee claimants perceive employment as an integrative expression of belonging and citizenship. Through the lens of

Neither Temporary, Nor Permanent: The Precarious Employment Experiences Of Refugee Claimants In Toronto

While Canada’s immigration system is shaped primarily by the nation’s economic needs, refugee claimants’ motivations are, by nature, non-economic. Resultantly, refugee claimants are often portrayed as a drain on Canadian resources. Despite this however, refugee claimants’ employment experiences remain underrepresented in the literature. This study explores the employment experiences of refugee claimants in Toronto, and finds that claimants face distinct and unique barriers stemming from their precarious legal status. Additionally, as neither temporary workers nor permanent citizens, this study finds that refugee claimants perceive employment as an integrative expression of belonging and citizenship. Through the lens of