Refugee Rights Vindicated By Court Ruling

[Vinca]

Source: Toronto Star

Canada will no longer have the right to turn back asylum seekers at the American border under a federal court ruling that deems the United States not a safe country for refugees – opening the door for a potential flood of northbound claimants.

In a surprise judgment yesterday, the court concluded that the three-year-old Safe Third Country Agreement – which denies refugees who have landed first in the U.S. the right to later seek protection in Canada, and vice versa – breaches the rights of asylum seekers under the United Nation Refugee Convention or the Convention Against Torture.

"The interest at stake is highly important to an individual's life, safety and dignity," wrote Justice Michael Phelan.

"I would therefore conclude that the designation of the U.S. as a safe third country leads to a discriminatory result, in that it has a much more severe impact on persons who fall into the areas where the U.S. is not compliant with the Refugee Convention or CAT (Convention Against Torture), as well as discriminating and exposing such people to risk based solely on the method of arrival in Canada."



Read more: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/281332

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Another feather in Shrub's cap - "U.S. does not comply with certain international conventions protecting refugees and prohibiting returning people to places of torture."

[gratuitous]

1. Another quaint sentiment badly in need of updating

I mean, the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions? As if! Old documents that don't have any current meaning in today's Republican world! Anderson Cooper can hold up a Bible at the Republican debate and seriously ask the candidates if they believe every word of it is literally true. Why not hold up a copy of the Constitution?

Anyway, the country I grew up in used to welcome folks from other countries, and provide a sanctuary and a refuge. We celebrated it in song, story and poetry, particularly on a certain statue out in New York Harbor:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Maybe it's time for a new poem to reflect what the United States has become under George W. Bush:

Like some ineffectual giant of Greek fame,
With flailing limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty warrior with a sword, whose flame
Is the fear-inspired judgment, and his name
Father of Torturers. From his weapon-hand
Glows world-wide retribution; his suspicious eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied oppression!" cries he
with silent lips. "I give you support and expertise to harry
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
I fear these, the homeless, and tempest-tost,
I lift my sword in tribute to your despotism!"

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I guess that quaint statue will need some re-working, too.