On welcoming the stranger

Catholic New Times, Jan 29, 2006

When King David, in the presence of all his people, praised the Lord for the blessings that had been received, he also reminded us about our own situation before God: "We are aliens and transients before the Lord our God, as were all our ancestors...." (1 Chronicles 29:15).

Awareness of our precariousness invites us as believers to be attentive to migrants and in solidarity with them.

Being an alien or transient is the reality for 2.9 per cent of the world population today. At least 175 million men, women and children are estimated to be living outside their country of origin; this includes economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. However, the majority of the world's displaced persons are now found within their own countries, sometimes having to move seasonally. More than ever before, migration is a structural phenomenon of society and a bitter reality of the human condition ...

The Catholic perspective on migration

When it is not a question of people being forced, migration can be a manifestation of the human search for freedom and new life-giving horizons. The church supports the right to migrate; however, this is not seen as an absolute right of individuals. Instead, it is to be subject to the requirements of the common good. This means that states can exercise a certain control over immigration, although it is not to be inspired by selfish attitudes or "restrictive policies." ...

Based on the principle of the fundamental dignity of each human person and the consistent ethic of life, the Catholic Church is uncompromising on the rights of refugees ... The church teaches that every country is to see that the rights of refugees are assured and respected "as much as the rights of its own citizens."

Migration to Canada

Because of lack of political will together with priority being given to security preoccupations, recent Canadian policies for the protection of refugees have become much more restrictive. In 2005, Canada will probably have the lowest number of refugee claimants since the mid-1980s ...

The Government of Canada is also involved in other practices which regrettably fail to live up to the international agreements to which this country is signatory. Arab and Muslim communities, in particular, seem to suffer from racial profiling that has taken various forms ...

No person should be sent back into a situation where their lives will be in danger or they are subject to torture. It is a fundamental inversion of values, according to Catholic teaching, when laws and policies place national interests and security before human dignity ...

Sanctuary

In summer 2004, the then federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Hon. Judy Sgro, publicly asked churches to abandon the tradition of offering sanctuary to refugee claimants under the threat of deportation. In the preceding months, eight parishes or congregations from different Christian denominations had offered sanctuary to people whose need for protection had not been recognized by the federal government. In March that year, Quebec City police entered a church belonging to the United Church of Canada and arrested an Algerian refugee. This violation of sanctuary broke a tradition that until then had been respected in Canada. The response of church leaders, who held a joint press conference and then met with the Minister, was to point out that the problem is not recourse to sanctuary, but the flawed Canadian refugee determination system that leaves too many refugees without protection.

Right to appeal

Determining refugee status can mean a decision involving the death of a human being. Yet it is the one and only judicial decision for which an appeal mechanism does not exist. A refugee whose claim is turned down by a single officer at a Refugee Board hearing ought to have the right to appeal. The Parliament of Canada has recognized this, and provided for such an appeal in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (adopted in June 2002), but the government has refused to implement the appeal system ...

Separation of families

One of the greatest sufferings that many migrants face is separation from children and spouses. The separation of families, which can last as long as several years, has a detrimental effect on all, but particularly on children and youth ... Christians should not hesitate to "take the initiative, to struggle for social policies and legislation that promote and protect the rights of the family, a just distribution of resources and support for the most vulnerable and helpless ..."

Migrant agricultural workers

There are also growing concerns about the more than 18,000 seasonal agricultural workers, mostly from Mexico and the Caribbean, who come each year to do work that Canadians are less interested in doing. The conditions offered are not always respectful of human dignity, in part because of extended work periods without time off, poor housing conditions and lack of due medical attention. Together with advocacy groups, we also question the justice of migrant workers having to pay premiums for Employment Insurance benefits when their right to receive these remains theoretical and inaccessible.