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The Refugee Program

How Amnesty International Can Help Refugees in Canada

The mission of Amnesty International is to oppose the most serious human rights abuses (such as unlawful detention, torture, "disappearance" or death). If you believe you would face such grave abuse in your country, we can look for evidence to support you.

Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-speaking) focuses primarily on helping people AFTER they are denied refugee status by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). In some cases, we can provide specific information prior to the hearing (see below) , but generally we work to promote an effective refugee determination system and use our resources to intervene only in instances when the system has failed to protect those who need it.

Before the Immigration & Refugee Board Hearing

If a refugee claimant or their legal representative is seeking very specific information concerning an event or a judicial process, for example, and have not been able to find it, we may be able to help. Questions like "Can Amnesty International confirm that women lawyers were detained and flogged in Khartoum after an anti-government demonstration in December 1997?"

However, we expect the claimant and/or their lawyer to have carried out preliminary research before contacting us, as we do not have the resources to conduct research that is publicly available. We can forward these very specific questions to the relevant country Research Team at our International Secretariat in the United Kingdom. Note: Since these people have a lot of competing priorities, you may have to wait for a response.

After a negative IRB Decision

Refugee claimants who receive a negative decision from the IRB and believe they are at risk of serious harm in their country are encouraged to contact us. It is preferable you do this as soon after you receive your negative IRB decision as possible, and certainly before you receive notice to apply for the Pre Removal Risk Assessment, or 'PRRA'. We will review your case to see if there is any evidence we can add to support your application. We will look for evidence to help you verify the risk you say you face in your country.

If we are able to find such evidence, we may be able to provide you or your legal representative with either of two types of letters (see below), to accompany your application(s) to Citizenship and Immigration Canada or to the court (e.g. a PRRA, H&C or stay application.) Note: Amnesty International is not able to prepare such applications ourselves, and we strongly advise refused refugees to work with a legal representative.

Types of Letters from Amnesty International Canada

1. We may be able to provide you with a "general risk" letter relevant to your case. (for example, whether it really is possible for HADEP members to live safely anywhere in Turkey). Some of these types of letters are also posted on the AI Canada website (click on "Refugees" then "Reports")

OR

2. We may be able to provide you with a "personal risk" letter, specific to you, saying that Amnesty International believes you would face grave human rights abuse in your country and therefore opposes your removal to your country. For us to decide if we can provide a personal risk letter, we require the opportunity to review all documents relating to your refugee case, interview you and conduct our own research/investigation (which usually includes consulting our International Secretariat). This usually takes us at least four weeks.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS

For AI country information, visit the library on the International Secretariat website at: http://www.amnesty.org and click on 'Library'. It has a full index of Amnesty publications. A new addition to that site are Amnesty International's Urgent Actions (UAs) - these are short documents that alert Amnesty members to cases of individuals who are in danger of suffering grave human rights abuses. UAs can be useful as evidence in refugee claims when there are no recent country reports. They may describe the cases of people with similar profiles to the refugee claimant, or be indicative of abuses like the ones they say they have suffered.

TO CONTACT US

If you require our assistance, email the Refugee Coordinators' office in Toronto at refugees@amnesty.ca, or call the Amnesty International Toronto RefNet Office at 416-363-9933 x23.