Trends and Inconsistencies in Immigration and Refugee Board Case Decisions

The last fifteen years have included dramatic policy changes to the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). These changes are reflected through IRB year-end statistics/graphs and an anthropologically focused discussion that illustrates the need for reform to correct current inconsistencies in the IRB decision-making process

Challenging Essentialized Representations of Romani Identities in Canada

Roma are one of the world’s most marginalized and exoticized ethnic groups, and they are currently the targets of increasing violence and exclusionary polices in Europe. In Canada, immigration and refugee policies have increasingly dismissed Roma as illegitimate or ‘bogus’ refugee claimants, in large part because they come from ‘safe’ European countries. These policies are reinforced through Canadian media discourse that primarily situates Roma as abusers of the refugee system. This dissertation on Romani identity challenges these demeaning and essentializing representations by focusing on three areas most relevant to Romani identities: first, historical representations; second, the role of media in reinforcing stereotypes; and third, Romani activism that contests popular conceptions surrounding Roma. Based on research and fieldwork, I propose that Canadian policies, stereotyping, and Romani activism produce a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon: on the one hand, they accentuate and sometimes create internal differences, and on the other hand, they demand that the Roma respond with a unified collective voice. The production of these differences and similarities correspond to specific historical and social contexts of Roma in Canada. This dissertation examines these issues by analyzing Romani relationships with institutional organizations (including the refugee determination system) and conflicts over public representations in the media. This dissertation is based on anthropological approaches, including participant observation and other fieldwork methods with Roma in the Greater Toronto Area from 2009-2013. This work expands on my previous research with Toronto Romani community members beginning in 2007. I conducted interviews with Romani refugee claimants, Romani community members and leaders, service providers, lawyers, journalists, and other people involved in Romani issues and advocacy work. I also conducted archival research on the history of the Roma in Ontario, as well as media discourse analyses of select newspapers in 2012. In addition to qualitative data, I have included statistical analyses of Immigration and Refugee Board data, dating 1996-2012, on Hungarian and Czech acceptance and success rates. This work demonstrates that Romani identities are historical, complex, multi-layered, and ever changing, and that their struggles regarding identities and representations have real life consequences

No Refuge: Hungarian Romani Refugee Claimants in Canada

From 2008 to 2012, large numbers of Hungarian Romani refugee claimants came to Canada. Their arrival was controversial. Some political actors suggested that their claims were unfounded and amounted to abuse of Canada’s refugee processes -- abuse which could only be prevented through wide-scale reforms to the refugee determination system. Many advocates for refugees, by contrast, argued that persecution against Roma was rampant in Hungary and noted that hundreds of Hungarians had been recognized as refugees in Canada. Some went further and contended that Romani refugee claimants fled persecution in Hungary only to be confronted with similar mistreatment in Canada. Unfortunately, much of the debate about Hungarian Romani refugee claims in Canada has occurred in an evidentiary vacuum. The purpose of this article is to fill this vacuum by setting out the results of a quantitative and qualitative empirical study of Hungarian Romani refugee claims. The article begins by discussing the context of the study, offering an overview of the historic and contemporary experience of Roma in Hungary and outlining the history of Hungarian Romani migration to Canada, including two recent streams of migration by Hungarian Romani refugee claimants and Canada’s response to these claimants. The article then moves on to an empirical study about the experience of Hungarian Romani with Canada’s refugee determination system between 2008 and 2012. Finally, the article offers concluding remarks, focusing on several particularly troubling findings from the study, including the impact of anti-refugee rhetoric, concerns about institutional bias and inconsistent decision making at the Immigration and Refugee Board, and problems related to quality of counsel

No Refuge: Hungarian Romani Refugee Claimants in Canada

From 2008 to 2012, thousands of Hungarian Roma sought asylum in Canada. Some political actors suggested that their claims were unfounded and demonstrated that Canada’s refugee processes were vulnerable to abuse. In contrast, advocates for refugees argued that persecution against Roma was rampant in Hungary and noted that hundreds of Hungarian Roma were granted refugee status in Canada. Much of this debate has occurred in an evidentiary vacuum. This article fills this vacuum through a qualitative and quantitative study of Hungarian Romani refugee claims. First, the context of the study is discussed. Then, the article explores the experiences of Hungarian Roma within Canada’s refugee determination system between 2008 and 2012. The article ends with concluding remarks, focusing on particularly troubling findings from the study, including the impact of anti-refugee rhetoric, institutional bias, inconsistent decision making, and problems related to quality of counsel

No Refuge: Hungarian Romani Refugee Claimants in Canada

From 2008 to 2012, large numbers of Hungarian Romani refugee claimants came to Canada. Their arrival was controversial. Some political actors suggested that their claims were unfounded and amounted to abuse of Canada’s refugee processes -- abuse which could only be prevented through wide-scale reforms to the refugee determination system. Many advocates for refugees, by contrast, argued that persecution against Roma was rampant in Hungary and noted that hundreds of Hungarians had been recognized as refugees in Canada. Some went further and contended that Romani refugee claimants fled persecution in Hungary only to be confronted with similar mistreatment in Canada. Unfortunately, much of the debate about Hungarian Romani refugee claims in Canada has occurred in an evidentiary vacuum. The purpose of this article is to fill this vacuum by setting out the results of a quantitative and qualitative empirical study of Hungarian Romani refugee claims. The article begins by discussing the context of the study, offering an overview of the historic and contemporary experience of Roma in Hungary and outlining the history of Hungarian Romani migration to Canada, including two recent streams of migration by Hungarian Romani refugee claimants and Canada’s response to these claimants. The article then moves on to an empirical study about the experience of Hungarian Romani with Canada’s refugee determination system between 2008 and 2012. Finally, the article offers concluding remarks, focusing on several particularly troubling findings from the study, including the impact of anti-refugee rhetoric, concerns about institutional bias and inconsistent decision making at the Immigration and Refugee Board, and problems related to quality of counsel