The private sponsorship of refugees program is one of the issues you've identified as of interest to you, and also of high priority. It's also of high priority to the CCR.
Following are some reasons why you should care about the private sponsorship of refugees program. It's the only program of its kind in the world that allows citizens to make their own contribution on top of what the government does to the resettlement of refugees in need of protection and a permanent home. Sponsor contributions include financial support roughly equivalent to $79 million annually. The cost to the government to resettle these refugees is minimal.
Largely because of private sponsorship efforts, the people of Canada were awarded the Nansen Medal in 1986. It was the first time the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had awarded this medal to an entire nation.
Communities right across Canada, large and small, can participate in welcoming refugees through private sponsorship. This allows communities to get to know refugees face-to-face and build a commitment to upholding Canada's humanitarian traditions as well as facilitating successful integration and reducing xenophobia.
The private sponsorship of refugees program complements the government resettlement program, which largely relies on referrals by the UNHCR, and allows Canada to respond to refugees in need who would otherwise fall through the cracks.
In the last ten years, 29,000 refugees were able to find a permanent home in Canada as a result of this program. If the government permits, sponsors can do even more in the next ten years.
If it's so great, what's the problem? There is a lack of clear government support for private sponsorship as shown by the low targets, roughly 3,000 to 4,000 per year, significantly below the willingness of sponsors to be involved.
We're also concerned that actual arrivals are at the bottom end of the range. In fact, in 2005 we didn't even meet the bottom end of the range. As a result, there is an accumulated backlog--roughly 14,000 as of September 1, 2006--and there are long delays. For visa office processing alone, 50% of cases take more than 22 months. One in five cases takes more than 34 months. And we are concerned about the perception of the program and the sponsorships we submit from CIC and visa posts oversees.
Our recommendations include increasing the targets significantly for privately sponsored refugees in the 2007 annual immigration plan and increasing the resources for processing privately sponsored refugees to ensure that these targets are met and that the backlog is eliminated. We also recommend that the committee study private sponsorship refusal rates in order to better understand the reasons for refusals.
I will now turn to Francisco.