Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 7th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you very much, Mr. Brumberg. I know there will be questions.

We will start off with a representative from the Conservative Party, Ms. James.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to extend a special welcome to all of our guests today. There are certainly a large number here, and I'm very delighted to see you all here.

Much of Bill C-31, which we're debating here, has to do with designating certain countries as safe countries. I know that many democratic European countries designate certain countries as safe and actually accelerate asylum procedures for claims from those countries. There's a long list of these countries: United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, and so on. This is not something new on the world stage. Canada is actually behind a lot of the other countries we're most commonly compared against.

I just have a question specifically regarding the United Kingdom, the U.K. The process for claimants in some streams takes as little as 10 to 14 days—that's what I've been told. Is this a correct statement?

I'm not sure who I should direct this to. Perhaps our guests—

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

It should probably go to somebody in Brussels.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Did you hear the question?

[Ioana Patrascu, Legal Officer, Directorate General, Home Affairs, Asylum Unit, European Commission]

We heard the question.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

My question was whether it is correct that in the U.K. the processes for certain streams take as little as 10 to 14 days.

[Ioana Patrascu]

I'm not in a position to comment on specific practices of member states without first checking, but these can vary. Based on our information, this could be the case.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

We've actually done some research, and it is 10 to 14 days, which is actually a much shorter timeline than what we're proposing in Canada under Bill C-31.

We keep hearing that we might be in violation of the UN convention on refugees. In your opinion—and this is to any of the guests who can answer this question—is the United Kingdom in contravention of the UN convention on refugees?

[Ioana Patrascu]

If you strictly refer to the duration, then the answer is no. However, this needs to be assessed in conjunction with other elements, so it's the way it's applied.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Is it also true that included on the U.K.'s list of safe countries are countries such as Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone? Are those also designated as safe countries in the U.K.?

[Ioana Patrascu]

Again, I am sorry, but I cannot comment on behalf of specific member states.

As you are aware, these are national lists of countries, not European ones, so I'm not in a position to reply on this. I don't have the information.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Are there any of our guests here today who could confirm that statement?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

These people are here representing the European Commission, not individual states.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Okay. Let me reword that question a bit.

With regard to not representing an individual state or country, do you believe any of these countries that are currently in the process of designating safe countries, with a very short timeline for review and processing, are in violation or contravention of the UN convention on refugees? If you do, then that long list of countries I just named would be a serious problem right now.

Do you believe that any of those countries right now are in contravention of the UN convention on refugees?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I think they've already answered that they don't know. They don't know individual states.

[Ioana Patrascu]

The commission is monitoring the situation. However, we cannot pronounce ourselves today on the fact of knowing whether a member state is in violation of the acquis or not. When we consider that this is the case, we launch legal proceedings to the European Court of Justice.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

[Ioana Patrascu]

This is the only thing I can say.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Perhaps I'll direct a couple more questions toward the Federal Government of Germany.

Germany has a policy by which all EU claimants and designated safe countries include Ghana and Senegal, and are presumed manifestly unfounded unless proven otherwise and are processed on a fast track.

Do you believe that your policies in Germany contravene the UN convention on refugees, if this is the current process you are using today?

[Anja Klabundt]

We think the countries you named, Senegal and Ghana, are safe countries of origin, and we don't think the procedure opposes the UN convention.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

My last question is directed to Germany. Compared to many other EU countries with the designated country of origin policy and process, under Canada's bill, which we're proposing, Bill C-31, Canada would have longer timelines for DCO countries than many other European countries do today.

Do you agree with that, based on information that you can provide?

[Anja Klabundt]

We have no accelerated procedures, except the so-called airport procedure.

To be honest, I don't know the timelines foreseen in the new Canadian asylum system.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

It's actually 45 days for processing for the safe countries that we want to designate. It's a lot longer than many other countries currently have, countries that we're compared against in the long list I provided.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

We're out of time.

[Anja Klabundt]

I can just say that we normally have no deadlines; we just have a normal asylum procedure, except for the so-called airport procedure, and there we have shorter deadlines.