Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre Hopes and Dreams
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre Hopes and Dreams Stories from Young Refugees
About Us Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre Things we do: Education: civil liberties and human rights presentations. Ô Human Rights Education Project speakers, materials, in-services and teacher support. Ô Research: contemporary civil liberties and human rights issues concerning Albertans. Ô Providing Information to the Public Ô Research and Education - Not Advocacy Ô
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre Some of our publications: Sexual Harassment in School Ô Discrimination, Human Rights and You Ô Freedom to Be: Understanding LGBT Youth Ô Freedom of Expression and All that Jazz Ô The Rights Angle: Human Rights Using the Newspaper Ô
Hopes and Dreams: Stories from Young Refugees u Teacher and Student Materials u Video
Hopes and Dreams Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Who are Refugees? Why Refugees Leave Life in a Refugee Camp Laws Governing and Protecting Refugees Settling in Canada
Hopes and Dreams Teacher Materials u Activity Sheets u Handouts u Teacher Resources u Legislation u Alberta Curriculum Summary u Resources
UNHCR Lego Campaign
Who are Refugees? u Just like you and I u 21. 8 million refugees u 50% are children u 80% are women and children
Definition of Refugee A person who has “a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…” Refugee Convention / Immigration Act
Refugees and Immigrants u Immigrants mostly choose to leave country u Immigrants have job qualifications, family members in Canada or money to invest u Refugees leave out of necessity u Refugees do not choose where to go and often lose family members along the way
Why Refugees Leave Political and social context u War, ethnic cleansing, genocide u Torture u Political upheaval u Gender persecution u Religious persecution u Persecution based on sexual orientation u
The Refugee Convention u After World War II many refugees u United Nations devised the Convention Relating to the status of Refugees in 1951 u Spells out a set of basic human rights for refugees u Recognizes need for international cooperation and shared responsibility
The Refugee Convention u Creates an international duty to offer asylum to refugees u Canada was not always receptive to refugees
How many refugees Estimated 17 million refugees in the world A young Congolese man happy to be back in his home village after repatriation from Tanzania. UNHCR is seeking funds for its DRC repatriation and reintegration programmes this year. © UNHCR/S. Schulman
How many refugees u To uphold its obligations Canada took in 23, 000 to 30, 400 refugees in 2002 u Canada came in 11 th, internationally, in terms of money contributed to refugee-aid
Life in a Refugee Camp u Refugees flee to neighbouring countries, often developing nations u Means the world’s poorest countries are harbouring refugees
Life in a Refugee Camp u Government often puts refugees in a camp u Camp life often has authoritarian administration u Restricted land use, shortage of food
Human Rights and Refugees Many different areas of law and policies govern rights of refugees u International law u Canadian law
Universal Declaration of Human Rights u u u Right not to be held in slavery or tortured or be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 4, 5) Right not to be subject to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile (Article 9) Right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution (Article 14)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights u Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 18) u Freedom of expression and opinion (Article 19) Right to peaceful assembly (Article 20) u u Right to enough resources to feed, clothe and house one’s family (Article 25) u Right to free education in the elementary years (Article 26)
Convention of the Rights of the Child u Inherent right to life (Article 6) u Right not to be separated from their parents (Article 9) u Right not to be protected from physical or mental harm or neglect, including sexual abuse or exploitation (Article 19) u Right to free and compulsory primary education (Article 28)
Thailand: A Karen refugee girl heads home after school in Mae Sot camp. UNHCR / D. Lom
Convention of the Rights of the Child u Right to be separated from adults if jailed or detained; right to not be tortured or suffer cruel or degrading treatment (Article 37 (c)) u Right to not take part in hostilities and to receive special protection if exposed to armed conflict (Article 38) u Right to freely enjoy one’s culture, religion and language (Article 30)
Video u u u Shows unique experiences of refugees Young people in video were between one year and sixteen years old when they were forced to flee From a variety of countries, some more industrialized and some developing
- Slides: 25