Background

In the Summer/Fall of 2022, Canada’s Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, with partner agencies and people with lived immigration detention experience, successfully campaigned for four provinces to end their contracts with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for immigration detention. These provinces will no longer provide their prisons as places to hold immigration detainees. 

Why ending detention in prisons is significant for refugee claimants in BC

Canada’s immigration enforcement agency CBSA has the power to detain people for immigration reasons. Over decades, with only a very small immigration holding centre under the Vancouver International Airport, almost all immigration detainees were transferred to provincial jails where they were held for days, weeks, months, and in some cases years. 

For people arriving as asylum seekers looking for refugee protection, being detained in a prison built for criminals was extremely traumatizing. We heard often how, in their desperate need for safety, refugee claimants put in prisons felt as unsafe as they did in their home countries. 

Good news. The province of BC says it will not renew its contract with CBSA. Refugee claimants will no longer be put into a prison alongside Canadian criminals. 

This does not, however, mean the end of immigration detention. Canada Border Services Agency opened the new Immigration Holding Centre in Surrey, BC in 2020. This dedicated centre, while secure and prison-like, is only for immigration detainees.

Why do refugee claimants get detained?

Refugee claimants are detained if they raise suspicion in the mind of the CBSA officer that they pose security concerns, are a flight risk, and / or have not provided convincing documents as to their true identity. Learn more about why refugee claimants may be detained.

What’s Kinbrace’s connection to immigration detention in prisons?

Many refugee claimants who lived at Kinbrace since 1998 were detained on arrival or after arrival, and held at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre (FRCC – men), Alouette Correctional Centre for Women, or the Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre.

Their stories are very personal and painful, speaking to the humiliation, the violence, the fear, the confusion, and the injustice of being placed in criminal correctional institutions.

Perhaps the most significant one-time and extended use of prisons for immigration detention was for the 492 Tamil Sri Lankan refugee claimants who arrived on the MV Sun Sea on the BC coast in August 2010. All the passengers were initially detained, and then slowly released. Records indicate immigration detention in prisons was used as a means to punish and coerce those who had arrived on the ship, and to deter others from coming to seek asylum. Families – especially children and mothers – were separated from their husbands and fathers for many months. A few were detained in prison for years. The Kinbrace community walked closely with several of these families during this difficult time.

Kinbrace partnered with UNHCR Canada in 2016 to undertake detention monitoring. This monitoring included all immigration detainees, not just refugee claimants, and allowed access to the prisons mentioned above.

Marking the end of immigration detention in BC prisons

Kinbrace, in collaboration with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, hosted a by-invitation event on 18 November 2022 to mark the end of immigration detention in BC prisons and to celebrate the successes so far and ongoing push to end immigration detention. 

The photo above pictures some of the guests.

What’s next? #WelcomeToCanada

You can join the struggle to end immigration detention by sending your own petition. Go to https://www.hrw.org/welcometocanada.

A prayer to mark the end of immigration detention in BC prisons

Creator God – 

You are light.

You are love.

You are life.

Forgive us Canadians who, even with our best intentions and efforts, have failed till now to bring change to this practice of detaining refugee claimants in Canadian prisons. 

Forgive us for the ways – known and unknown – we are complicit in the power structures that make Canada an unwelcoming country.

May your light increasingly clarify what needs to change, and may we act in that light, to create a world of welcome.

Bless our sisters and brothers, who in their time of greatest need for refuge and safety, were instead put in a BC prison and suffered the fear, the cruelty, the indignity of imprisonment.

Free them, in ways meaningful and right to each of them, of their anger, their loss, their sorrow, their trauma.

May your love heal their minds and bodies of this injustice, and may they be free to welcome others.

We acknowledge with gratitude the people and institutions who, with creativity and tenacity, have pushed for and brought an end to immigration detention in prisons.

Thank you for

• Human Rights Watch,
• Amnesty International,
• BC Civil Liberties Association,
• Vancouver City Council, and
• the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia.

And thank you especially for the courage for those with lived immigration detention experience who have raised their voices to bring change.

May your life continue to inspire – beyond imagination – a warm welcome with and for those arriving in Canada seeking refugee protection. 

Amen

– A prayer of the Kinbrace community 2022

Ashki Shkur arrived in Canada in 2017, was student council president at Britannia Secondary School 2021-2022, and is now heading to UBC on a full $80,000 scholarship.

So proud of this young woman!

Thanks to you—if you are a Kinbrace supporter—Ashki not only lives safely in Canada, she is achieving her dreams.

Read her story in this Vancouver Sun article.

Read her story and watch the video in this CTV article.

She’s been on quite a journey so far, in her young life. What’s next?

In the photo above, Ashki, 12 years old at the time, was taken into custody by RCMP after walking across the U.S.-Canada border with her parents and sister in Surrey in 2017. (PHOTO BY BEN NELMS /Reuters)

Soon after crossing the border, Ashki and her family were welcomed with housing and wrap-around support in the Kinbrace community.

Donate now to support the next young person seeking refuge and protection. Intervene at this vulnerable moment so they can stabilize and thrive. Just like Ashki.

Feeling the inadequacy and frustration of the humanitarian, charitable, and organizational approaches to welcoming refugee claimants, the Kinbrace community asked the question:

“What would a values-based, human-centred, and transformational welcome for and with people seeking refuge and protection in Canada look like?”

Thanks to donors’ ongoing support, the wisdom and guidance of a diverse research steering committee, the researching and reporting skills of Alexandra Dawley Consulting, and funding from the Vancouver Foundation and The Houssian Foundation, this new report – From Humanitarian to Human: Changing the Way We Welcome Refugee Claimants – is now available for you and for everyone wondering about about how to amplify dignity, belonging, and wellbeing for and with refugee claimants.

The research was conducted in a unique way: instead of asking about challenges refugee claimants faced, they were asked,

“In your journey as a refugee claimant, tell us about the ‘bright moments’ when you experienced dignity, belonging, and wellbeing…”

Creative processes (writing prose and poetry, making art – all captured in the report) were part of the telling and listening journey.

The voices of people with refugee claimant experience are distilled in 9 actionable recommendations. Some recommendations may resonate with you, affirming what you already know and do. Other recommendations may surprise and challenge you.

If we can collectively pursue these recommendations, we will indeed bring increased and much needed change with refugee claimants in Canada.

The harm inflicted on Ukraine by Russia is horrific. And it is deeply impacting Ukraine’s people who are fleeing for safety by the millions into neighbouring countries and beyond.

We need to do everything we can to help.

As we do, keep the following in mind, and take appropriate action.

Ukrainians: are they refugees? – use language carefully

If you listen closely to media reports, and in general conversation, you’ll hear the word “refugee” being used to describe Ukrainians crossing their border into nearby countries.

Indeed, everything about their situation is accurate to the definition of a refugee: someone who has fled their country and fears returning because their life is in danger.

Two factors muddle the use of the word refugee:

1. inconsistent application based on emotion and perception (the term “refugee” is exploitable)
2. complex, technical, legal processes that are used to determine if someone fits the definition and merits refugee protection.

Under international refugee law, with its roots in 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention), a person becomes a “Refugee” when either the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the safe country they are in verifies their refugee status through an independent legal process. Getting “Convention Refugee” status is a powerful protection under international law.

A person may fit the definition of a refugee perfectly, but until they undergo the legal determination process and a decision is made, they don’t have refugee status and the rights that come with it.

The challenge with you and I determining refugee status is that we are fickle in our application of the term, often driven by our own emotions, which are often charged with deep biases and unconscious assumptions. At best, this can lead to a flood of goodwill and generosity. At worst: severe, unfair discrimination.

Perhaps one way to think of it is lowercase-r refugee and uppercase-R Refugee.

A person can be a refugee – having fled war, violence, conflict or persecution and having crossed an international border to find safety in another country. In this situation, this person is vulnerable to the gaze and prejudgements of those of us secure behind our borders and country identities.

This same person cannot become a Refugee – and get the protection and the rights that come with it – until they have gone through a legal determination process.

People who come to Canada believing themselves to be refugees and seeking safety are called “refugee claimants” as they pass through Canada’s legal refugee determination system.

It takes refugee claimants in Canada months, and sometimes years, to get Refugee status if they merit it. Convention Refugee or Protected Person is what they are called when their claim passes the legal test.  It is long journey, through a complex process.

For people who are seeking refugee protection, clarity of language is really important, both to set expectations, and to clarify legal protection rights. In Canada for example, a “refugee claimant” can’t leave the country (limited rights) but a Convention Refugee can get a special travel document (privileged rights) to travel internationally.

For our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, it is absolutely accurate to refer to them as refugees, but when we do, we should do so thoughtfully and carefully, remembering there are international laws pertaining to refugee protection, and that the use of the word refugee is vulnerable to exploitation.

Action you can take:

1. be mindful of using the word “refugee” – use the term carefully, accurately, without exploiting it
2. use “displaced Ukrainians” rather than “Ukrainian refugees” to be fair to other displaced people experiencing what Ukrainians are experiencing, but not being publicly perceived as refugees
3. welcome and honour the dignity of everyone who is going through a displacement experience as though they are Refugees; advocate and support them, and do everything you can to ensure they access and engage a legal process that will fairly decide whether they merit refugee protection (don’t prejudge refugee status)

These are the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about refugee claimants and the Kinbrace community amid the ongoing pandemic.  

The Canada-USA border is closed.  How is this affecting the number of people making claims for refugee protection in Canada?

The federal government closed the Canada-US border on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This created a significant barrier for those questing  through the USA toward Canada for protection.  Each year the majority of people who make refugee claims in Canada arrive overland via the Canada-US border.  With the border closed, fewer people are making refugee claims.

Source:  canada.ca

Are lower numbers of refugee claimants affecting Kinbrace’s work?

No. The pandemic hyper-exposes those who are already vulnerable, meaning there’s more risk for refugee claimants.  Government processing systems have been upended and are re-ordering, resulting in refugee claimants seeking information and support.

How has my support helped refugee claimants so far through the pandemic?

Within the Kinbrace community in East Vancouver, there’s a profound “family” feel, a closeness and intimacy.  This may stem from the shared pandemic experience, staying put together, and receiving your critical and timely support.  This expressed experience of belonging and connectedness amid forced displacement is profound.  Your invisible presence makes the community safe, vibrant, and trusting in the midst of uncertainty.

The quest for permanent housing remains important among Kinbrace residents, even though it abruptly stopped mid-March with lockdown and resulting uncertainty.  Three families recently moved into permanent homes, solidifying their experience of settlement and wellbeing. Their move creates vacancy in the Kinbrace transitional housing community, providing openings for those refugee claimants abiding in shelters across Metro Vancouver.  It’s your steadfast solidarity amid their chaos of finding home that brings stability.

Thousands of refugee claimants in BC and across the country have been waiting for refugee hearings to resume. Your support is adapting READY Tours in collaboration with the Canadian government so that each person waiting for their refugee hearing can learn and prepare appropriately.  If you’re interested in more detail, visit www.refugeeclaim.ca. 

I heard Kinbrace’s Tuesday community dinners have started again. Can I come?

Regrettably, no. While your presence is valued, guests/volunteers/neighbours/former residents are currently asked to not attend Tuesday community dinners (which resumed in June) as per guidelines from the health authorities.  Until further notice, community dinners are only for those living in the houses; currently, two staff members attend per week – at a distance – to help with cooking, set up, and clean-up.