Should the Government of Canada Control the Entry of Refugees in the Country?

Should the Government of Canada Control the Entry of Refugees in the Country?
Name:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:
Introduction
Canada receives close to half a million refugees every year. Some arrive on permanent basis while others as temporary foreign workers and foreign students. The immigration process in the country is carried out based on the goals drafted in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The act was drafted to define the approach through which people can find their way into the country for security purposes. Canada is one of the many signatories to the UN Convention on refugees. In accordance to this agreement, the country is dedicated to protecting the hounded and stateless. Unlike most signatories, the country is one of the few that has implemented laws, which provide an individual the alternative to choose permanent resettlement. Some of the issues that would prompt the government to resettle an individual on permanent basis are humanitarian concerns. This is actually the fundamental reason that prompted the country to redraft its laws to provide this kind of option to interested civil immigrants. However, this was not welcomed by all quarters in the political sector. Critics have argued that the policy is ill advised and has a number of limitations. For instance, they strongly believe that policy has severe economic impacts. The Canadian government should not control the entry of refugees in the country because it is a signatory to the UN, and refugees flee their motherland owing to political instability that disrupts peace.
Refugees are those individuals who are forced by political circumstances and grave human rights exploitation to flee their motherland. The right to seek asylum from maltreatment is accorded to every one across the globe and the fundamental legal tool expressing this right is the 1951 Convention (Moens & Collacott, 2008). Fighting negative views is a significant area that has to be duly addressed while working to protect the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants. Basic human rights have to be accorded to every one irrespective of his or her citizenship. This fact is clearly expressed in the international human rights tools that assure most rights to all people. Canada as an independent country believes in this concept as evident in their policy. Canada has for a long time provided a safe haven for people who face multiple human rights abuses without much interruption from the government. The fact that, many people from across the globe successfully file refugee claims and later settle for several years is evidence to suggest that, the process has been fruitful. Obviously, the refugees system in Canada may pose varying economical and security challenges. However, the pros clearly outweigh the cons.
In Canada, refugees are normally admitted on compassion basis without looking at any economic factor. Considering the fact that their human capital capacities are never taken into account while being admitted, economists have not been able to investigate sufficiently the refugees’ economic performance even today (Moens & Collacott, 2008). It is therefore, quite challenging to determine whether this group of people experience economic integration after they have been able to settle in the country. However, up until now the challenges reported have not proved grave enough to warrant the termination of this policy.
Canada like many other countries that are signatories to the UN Convention on refugees is obviously struggling to execute successfully its refugee policy. Undoubtedly, it has experienced a number of failures and successes at the same time. In the global arena, the country is quite respected for taking human rights issues quite seriously and always stretching a welcoming hand to those who seek asylum. This reputation is merited and all citizens of this great country ought to take pride in that.
A good number of Canadians and even people across their borders view the Canadian refugee policy as a comfortable intermediary for terrorists. For a while now, many articles have been published that analyze the policy as the “weakest security link.” The perception is also widely held by the country’s neighbors at the south. They believe that its refugee policy is today probably the most slacken. In fact, it could probably be even more slacken than in Europe. The big question here is whether this perception really holds any ground. According to Lamey (2011), “when you get an opportunity to examine terrorists’ refugee claims in Canada, you will be surprised by how little evidence there is to support the conventional view.” In fact, the opposite could hold more ground. Terrorists who attempt to seek refuge in Canada have a high capture rate. With this in mind, the refugee policy in the country may be the region’s most underappreciated antiterrorism incentive. It is essential to look at the refugee claims that have been filed in the last two decades before making any argument on the refugee situation in Canada. Particularly, those filed by those associated with political radicalism, probably as architects or financial contributors. When arguing for or against the need for the Canadian government to control the flow of refugees, it is essential not to emphasize on the statistics of those who became extremists’ years after filing for refugee claims (Lamey, 2011). Even though this group ought not to be completely dismissed, they represent a different challenge. They should not be compared to those who attempt to use the country’s refugee structure as covert avenues for entering the region.
The reports during these past decades indicate about 26 political extremists attempted to enter the country in the disguise of being refugees (Lamey, 2011). Undoubtedly, the idea of political extremists pretending to be asylum seekers is a genuine problem. The critical issue that has to be examined then is what commences next. At this point, it is essential to examine the case of Essam Marzouk. This is the only terrorist refugee who has been reported to carry out fruitfully a terror plan. Initially, he was an associate of the al-jihad by the time he was filing a refugee claim two decades ago. The group was formed in Egypt but later combined forces with the al-Qaeda terror group. He was successful in acquiring asylum in Canada and is believed to have been behind the training of the individuals who executed the terror plans in Kenya and Tanzania about fourteen years ago. It is logical to suggest that, if he were to train these individuals, he probably had to shift his base from the country to somewhere else. This is due to the fact that, most of the time when he was in the country; he was probably in confinement or under surveillance by the country’s security and intelligence systems. Looking at the 26 cases of political extremists who attempted to enter the country in the disguise of being refugees, there is none whereby it has been proved that an individual or group was conspiring to execute a terror plan. In fact, often most terrorists who conspire to enter the North American region in the pretence of seeking political asylum have become the subject of “security certificate.” The certificates are undoubtedly the country’s most dominant and significant instrument for protecting its citizens from terror acts (Lamey, 2011). Even though the system is quite contentious, it is evidently effective. Critics have condemned the fact that the policy permits authorities to use peculiar approaches such as the utilization of concealed evidence. Until today, sixty percent of cases of those terrorists who attempted to enter the country in the disguise of being a refugee have been addressed by the implementation of these certificates (Lamey, 2011).
No comparison between the tremendous apprehension rate of terrorists who masquerade themselves as asylum seekers and terror activities detached from refugee hoaxes. The September 11 attackers, in fact, utilized tourist and student visas to implement their evil deeds. The most detrimental terror plan to ever been executed in Canada was over seventeen years ago. The attack, popularly referred to as the Air India bombing was actually executed by the country’s citizens. Statistics undoubtedly indicate that terrorists who try to find their way in the region by exploiting the country’s refugee policy are evidently miscalculating their chances of success (Moens & Collacott, 2008). In fact, one would be significantly amplifying the possibility of being captured by considering this option. Asylum seekers are usually expected to divulge much more personal information than even tourists and students. Undoubtedly, people with ill motives will always continue finding their way into Canada. With this fact in mind, it is preferable to have them exploit the asylum seekers policy. This is because history has shown that their chances of successfully seeing their mission through are minimal through this option (Silaşi, 2008).
According to Cornelius, Tsuda, Martin, & Hollifield (2004), “a trend towards lower economic immigrant earning in Canada ultimately raises question about the economic impact of immigration.” The success in providing asylum to those people fleeing political tensions and grave human rights abuses is attributed to the solid immigration policy that has been adopted by the country. The economic effects of this regular free flow of foreigners into the country are yet to be measured efficiently. At the same time, the impacts of the...