Madam Speaker, officials with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration met with representatives of the Centre de Développement Salvadorien to discuss this issue on three separate occasions: January 31, February 15 and March 3.
As a result of these meetings we made two commitments to the organization and to the Salvadoran community in Canada. First, all Salvadorans facing removal from Canada would have their cases reviewed to ensure they would not be at risk if returned to El Salvador. Second, officials who conduct these reviews would be in possession of the most recent, up to date information on country conditions and political events in El Salvador. We have delivered on these commitments.
All unsuccessful refugee claimants from El Salvador facing removal from Canada benefit from an extra review in addition to the current post claim determination review. Each case is reviewed to ensure that they will not be at risk if returned to El Salvador. In addition, we have ensured that officials are kept informed of the country conditions through reports and bulletins of human rights organizations, the United Nations observer mission in El Salvador, and information from our representatives in Central America.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the fundamental issue here is refugee protection, not immigration. At some point, we have to accept the decisions handed down in the course of this process. Our refugee determination system is recognized as one of the fairest and most generous in the world.