Recent News Items and Our Most Recent News Releases
May 18, 2000 Forum Article Published in the Vancouver Sun
by Rita Wong, member of DARE
Imagine being snatched out of your bed in the middle of the night and taken against your will by armed guards. Is this a scene from Nazi Germany? A dictatorship? A wartorn country?
No, this is what happened to 90 people on Canadian soil on May 10th, 2000. This is the kind of brute force which the remaining Chinese people who arrived here by boat last summer fear.
Among the 90 people were 11 women. I have come to know many of the Chinese women. They are not faceless, nameless victims to me, but people who have experienced incredible hardship and trauma in their lives and in seeking a new beginning here in this country. I know the names of the three mothers who were deported, with their four children. They would not have left willingly.
Although intimidated and silenced by the guards who enforced the deportation, they passionately wanted their children to survive in a free country. They risked their lives for their children, and lost.
May 10th, 2000 is a sad day in Canadian history. The Canadian government has shown that its international attestations of human rights are just so much talk. It has miserably failed to protect the lives of the these disadvantaged women and children at risk. A democracy is only as strong as its treatment of the least fortunate who seek asylum here; this paramilitary repatriation demonstrates that Canada cannot find any compassion for a few women and children, whose safety cannot be guaranteed in the chaotic and corrupt environments to which they are being forcibly returned.
Given Chinas abysmal human rights record, and common knowledge that Chinese prison conditions include torture, beatings, rape and even deaths, the Canadian government has the lives of these 90 people on its conscience. I call for a stay of deportation until it is clear what kinds of treatment meet the returned people. Canada has not done a thorough risk assessment, based on independent NGO monitoring rather than on official Chinese government policies which do not reflect peoples actual experiences. In 1997, a seven-month pregnant Chinese migrant who was returned to China underwent a forced abortion. Amnesty International has documented many cases of abuses in Chinese prisons. The migrants' fears about being deported and imprisoned are valid and justified.
The government suggests that people must be deported in order to deter other migrants from coming to Canada. The fact is, whether or not people are deported, more will come. The pressures that force people to move remain, and deportation will not change the conditions that displace people.
In 1993, after people from the Golden Venture ship in the United States were deported to China, after spending about four years in prison, many were later caught on another ship trying to come to the United States again. What deportation does, however, is create fear amongst these displaced people, who rightfully fear being imprisoned in China for exercising their mobility rights.
Canada is sending a message that only those with money to immigrate have human rights. If you are poor, no matter how hardworking, earnest, or desperate you might be, there is no room in Canada for you. Canada's newly proposed immigration legislation's increased emphasis on detention and "security" is a waste of both money and lives.
Refugee claimants do not belong in prisons. The legislation also increases the discretionary powers of immigration officials; this only encourages abuses of power such as we saw on May 10th.
Clearly, immigrations brute enforcement methods need to be monitored by the public.
For many Canadians, the deportation of 90 Chinese people makes no difference to their daily lives. Or does it? Accepting this paramilitary brutality and misuse of force endangers the rights we take for granted, ultimately puts all citizens at risk, and makes a mockery of our international reputation for compassion and fairness.
May 19, 2000
Chinese Escapee Not From Four Migrant Ships
VANCOUVER. The Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians today corrected news reports that the Chinese escapee captured late last night arrived aboard the four migrant ships. In fact the individual in question had arrived with 24 others aboard a shipping container in January 2000. Reliable sources from within the Prince George jail have suggested that the escape attempt was spontaneous, Victor Yukmun Wong, Executive Director of VACC said today. We urge all detainees not to attempt an escape and to observe the prison rules. In our view, escape attempts only serve to make matters worse for the individual involved and those incarcerated – for example all detainees at Prince George experienced an abrupt lockdown due to the escape.
VACC continues to urge the Canadian government to review its policy of continuous detention of the Chinese boat refugee claimants and those who arrived aboard the container. May 20th marks the ten-month anniversary of the arrival of the first ship. It is apparent that one outcome of continuous detention is more stress and conflict for those detained. Mr. Wong said. We encourage the officials at Corrections BC to establish a proper protocol with advocates to resolve conflicts inside the jails and to provide more Mandarin-language direct services so that conflicts may be prevented from happening as opposed to the reactive arrangements that exist today.
Last week, Canadians witnessed the strong-arm actions of the Canadian government in forcibly repatriating 90 refused Chinese refugee claimants. VACC has learned that these 90 people are now being in administrative detention in local jails in Fujian province in China. The Canadian government has not safeguarded their repatriation and does not plan to monitor their treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities and local snakeheads.
VACC will continue to advocate for a full, fair and impartial hearing for all refugee claimants and protection for victims of human trafficking. Apparently at least one person repatriated last week had not received a final decision on a risk application. VACC will be investigating this case further.
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization and member chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council. VACC will also make presentations at the Canadian Council of Refugees Spring Conference June 1-3rd at UBC.
May 18, 2000
VACC Condemns Refugee Detention Policy
VANCOUVER. The Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians today condemned the Canadian policy of continuous detention of the Chinese boat refugee claimants. Last week, Canadians witnessed the strong-arm actions of the Canadian government in forcibly repatriating 90 refused Chinese refugee claimants. The Canadian government has not safeguarded their repatriation and does not plan to monitor their treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities and local snakeheads.
Further the Canadian government continues to detain over 250 adults at Canadian prisons. The government also plans to expand its detention powers under the new immigration bill.
May 20th marks the ten-month anniversary of the arrival of the first ship. The use of detention has been politically motivated and it is wrong, Victor Yukmun Wong, Executive Director of VACC said today. The government has applied its detention powers against a most vulnerable group of trafficked persons: this is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is immoral, and it is a very expensive use of public resources.
VACC will continue to advocate for a full, fair and impartial hearing for all refugee claimants and protection for victims of human trafficking. We will continue to present more compassionate alternatives to the present draconian policy of detention which only serves to punish the victim of human trafficking. The Canadian government ignores the foreign policy implications of their decision to repatriate.
We must ask: what was the quid pro quo to secure the Chinese governments cooperation in issuing the travel visas? Mr. Wong said. We will continue to remind the Canadian government of her international obligations and to bring forward cases where the Canadian government has abused the rights of refugees and refugee claimants.
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization and member chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council. Notes from our presentation at the Forum on Globalization and Human Trafficking held on May 14th at the University of Toronto (OISE) is posted on the web-site. VACC will also make presentations at the Canadian Council of Refugees Spring Conference June 1-3rd at UBC.
May 10, 2000
VACC Condemns Forced Repatriation
VANCOUVER. The Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians today condemned the para-military tactics and secrecy of the Canadian immigration department in forcibly repatriating some of the Chinese boat refugee claimants.
We are shocked at the strong-arm actions of the Canadian government, Victor Yukmun Wong, Executive Director of VACC said today. The government has refused to conduct its activities in a transparent manner. We understand that the refugee claimants were not officially informed, and neither were their legal counsel or their advocates. These people are being forcibly removed by Canada Immigration.
This secret government action comes on the heels of news last week where the US government laid criminal charges against alleged people traffickers: three Canadians and a senior Chinese official were charged. The South China Morning Post reported this week that corruption/smuggling charges have been laid against numerous Fujian government officials. Yet Canadian government response has been to punish the trafficked persons. There are no safeguards in place to guarantee that these people will not be punished by Chinese authorities or local snakeheads upon their return, Mr. Wong said. The government ignores the foreign policy implications of their decision to punish the victims of trafficking. Are the women and young children being repatriated today so dangerous to this country that para-military and secretive tactics be used to implement forced repatriation?
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization and member chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council.
April 6, 2000
New Immigration Bill Offers Little Protection
Vancouver. The Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians expressed concerns over the new immigration legislation introduced in Parliament today. The proposed laws offer less protection to refugees and victims of trafficking, Victor Yukmun Wong, Executive Director of VACC said today. The government has become a control freak by moving to expand discretionary detention powers, reduce the real opportunities for sanctuary and protection in this country and conferring more responsibility to a biased process before the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Last month, VACC identified a systemic bias in the Vancouver IRB office. The Vancouver acceptance rates were significantly below the national average in 1999, Mr. Wong said. Yet there are no provisions to provide improvements or oversight to this body. In effect there are no checks against member or systemic bias, and in fact the Minister proposes to give the IRB even more responsibility by collapsing the process at the IRB.
VACC continues to assist the 624 Chinese refugee claimants who arrived by ship last year and aboard a container in January. The new in-land class is a welcome change for spouses, students and workers living here, but there are no effective provisions to protect trafficked persons, only more powers to continue to criminalize and stigmatize the victim, Mr. Wong said. As we see in Australia, the country with the harshest laws, tough provisions even when enforced, do not discourage trafficking and dangerous forms of migration.
VACC urges the government to engage with the non-governmental groups to constructively improve the flawed legislation introduced today. In order to stop people trafficking and this dangerous method of migration by boat or container, the industrialized nations including Canada must co-ordinate their efforts to offer more welcoming avenues for ordinary people to apply and be accepted from their home countries; there must be a menu of effective education programs to discourage dangerous forms of migration; and finally there must exist humanitarian policies to protect the victims of trafficking. The federal government should also recognize the impact of these new laws on provincial treasuries.
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization.
For Immediate Release
March 20, 2000
VACC Identifies Vancouver IRB Bias
Vancouver. A review of the 1999 Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) Country Report conducted by the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians reveals that the Vancouver IRB office has the lowest refugee acceptance rates in the country.
VACC urges the federal government to take immediate steps to review and remedy this situation.
Last fall, VACC protested the lightning decisions of the Vancouver IRB office in deciding the first cases of the Chinese refugee claimants who arrived by ship. VACC also pointed out that IRB members were hearing cases before the research on persecution in Fujian was completed which was unfair to the claimant. Concerns have been expressed over the culture on the part of IRB members to stigmatize claimants receiving negative decisions. The results for 1999 reinforces concerns of bias in the Vancouver IRB office.
Vancouver Acceptance Rates Low Overall
The overall acceptance rates for Canada for 1999 were consistent with previous years. The national acceptance rate for 1999 is 46 percent. 27929 total cases were finalized, 12954 positive, 9378 negative, 3609 abandoned, and 1988 withdrawn/other. When the numbers of abandoned and withdrawn cases are factored out, the ratio of positive decisions to negative decisions is 1.38 or 12954 divided by 9378. In other words 58 percent, that is 12954 divided by the sum of 12954 and 9378, of all positive or negative decisions were positive. These are measures of the acceptance levels of cases actually heard to conclusion by the IRB panel.
VACC contrasts this with the low overall acceptance rates for the Vancouver IRB office which were the lowest in the country. The Vancouver acceptance rate for 1999 was only 28 percent: 3391 total cases were finalized, 958 positive, 1187 negative, 926 abandoned, and 320 withdrawn/other. The ratio of positive decisions to negative decisions is 0.807 (45 percent of decisions were positive).
Significant Bias To Reject Chinese Claims
VACC notes the differential rates in the results for claims from China. The 1999 results suggest a significant bias in the Vancouver office. The national acceptance rate for Chinese claims in 1999 was 33.7 percent: 1757 total cases were finalized, 592 positive, 422 negative, 710 abandoned, 33 withdrawn/other. The ratio of positive decisions to negative decisions is 1.40 (58 percent of decisions were positive).
The Vancouver acceptance rate for Chinese claims in 1999 was only 9.2 percent: 606 total cases were finalized, 56 positive, 154 negative, 388 abandoned, 8 withdrawn/other. More importantly, the ratio of positive decisions to negative decisions is only 0.364 (27 percent of decisions were positive).
We contrast this with the Toronto office where the acceptance rate for Chinese claims in 1999 was 59.3 percent: 869 total cases were finalized, 515 positive, 248 negative, 83 abandoned, 23 withdrawn/other. The ratio of positive to negative decisions is 2.08 (67 percent of decisions are positive).
A review of results for the first nine months, that is before the boat refugee claims decisions were rendered, shows a similar disparity.
The bias in the Vancouver office is apparent when the results for the first nine months are reviewed. The Vancouver acceptance rate for this period was only 9.9 percent: 345 total cases were finalized, 34 positive, 64 negative, 243 abandoned and 4 withdrawn/other. The ratio of positive to negative decisions is 0.531 (35 percent cases were positive). The Toronto acceptance rate for the same period was 58.9 percent: 616 total cases were finalized, 363 positive, 173 negative, 66 abandoned, 14 withdrawn/other. The ratio of positive to negative decisions is 2.11 (68 percent of decisions are positive).
Abandonments
In general, the low acceptance rates for Chinese claims were influenced by the volume of abandoned claims. Nationally 40 percent of Chinese claims were abandoned: in Vancouver 64 percent of Chinese claims were abandoned. Nationally 13 percent of all claims were abandoned: in Vancouver 27 percent of all claims were abandoned.
The overall total of abandoned claims is 3609. The top source countries with abandoned claims were China 710, Costa Rica 241, Honduras 241, Hungary 152, India 169, Mexico 178, Pakistan 245, and Somalia 110.
In Vancouver, a total of 926 cases were abandoned. The top countries were China 388, Honduras 207, India 51, and Mexico 89.
Analysis Of Ratios
The more significant indicator of bias is the ratio of positive to negative decisions. This ratio measures the relative level of positive to negative decisions of claims that are actually heard by IRB members to conclusion. Please note that some cases are withdrawn during the process and others abandoned. The results are significantly lower in the Vancouver office where only 0.364 (less than 3 in 10 decisions were positive). Nationally the ratio was 1.40 (almost 6 in 10 decisions were positive) and the Toronto office had a ratio of 2.08 (almost 7 in 10 decisions were positive).
It appears that the Chinese refugee claimants are significantly disadvantaged in having their case heard here by the Vancouver IRB even before they had arrived.
The bias in the Vancouver office becomes apparent when the results for the first nine months are reviewed. This period precedes the impact of decisions involving those who arrived by ship. The Vancouver acceptance rate for this period (January to September 1999) was only 9.9 percent compared to the Toronto acceptance rate of 58.9 percent. The Vancouver ratio of positive to negative decisions is 0.531 (35 percent cases were positive) compared to the Toronto ratio of 2.11 (68 percent cases were positive).
Continuous Detention
March 20th marks the eighth month of detention for those detained from aboard the first ship. VACC continues to protest the continuous detention of the Chinese refugee claimants who arrived aboard the four ships last year. About 400 adults remain in detention in five BC jails.
Clearly the federal government made a political decision to detain. Only the people arriving aboard the four ships have been singled out, criminalized and stigmatized. The volume of abandonments from other source countries or from Chinese claims arriving by air is significant yet only the Chinese who arrived aboard the four ships were targeted for continuous detention.
The decision to detain is politically driven, discriminatory and based on racist group profiling. As a result, the refugee acceptance rate for this group is less than 2 percent. VACC submits that continuous detention is unconstitutional and runs contrary to sections 7, 9, 10 and 15 of the Charter of Rights. VACC urges the federal government to examine its decisions. When the Govenor-General, herself a Chinese who arrived aboard a boat describes Canada as the forgiving society, when the Prime Minister uses the words sharing and generous to describe his government, we must ask how these values apply in the case of the Chinese refugee claimants today.
The opportunity costs of detention are significant at over 80,000 dollars per day. VACC estimates the detention costs to date (8 months) at 20 million. Further, VACC estimates the annual cost of detention alone to reach at least 30 million and total costs including expenses for immigration overtime, RCMP, Coast Guard, Navy, Justice Department, legal aid, foster care, transportation, translation to reach 40 million for 599 boat refugees. That works out to 150,000 dollars per refugee claimant.
There were 3609 abandoned claims overall nationally in 1999. Even if there were a method to pre-identify and detain these individuals and no such method exists, it would cost taxpayers over 700,000 dollars to detain for one day, 21 million a month, 250 million a year.
Alternatives
We would be better off to look at a more sophisticated approach and a menu of more effective policy instruments. The government should have in place policies to among other things protect trafficked persons, women and children at risk of exploitation, and members of religious groups facing group persecution. We require more welcoming immigration policies and practices, and foreign policy to encourage applications from overseas so that desperate people do not have to resort to traffickers.
The government must also move expeditiously to remedy the bias in the Vancouver IRB office where the acceptance rates and positive/negative ratios are the lowest in Canada. These low rates are apparent in the results for the first nine months of 1999, that is before the hearings for the boat refugee claimants are factored in. There appears to be significant problems in the Vancouver IRB office.
We urge the government to consider the alternatives offered by non-governmental organizations. Direct Action Against Refugee Exploitation has called for an amnesty at least for the women and children. Groups like the Canadian Council for Refugees have offered a menu of alternatives in a February 20th policy submission:
International discussions about responding to trafficking have generated many recommendations that can be a useful guide for action here in Canada. They focus on:
preventing trafficking, including by addressing the economic and other causes.
prosecuting the traffickers.
protecting trafficked persons.
The last is particularly relevant for considering how Canada should be treating trafficked persons in Canada. Elements of the recommendations include:
developing a coordinated national strategy and ensure ongoing coordination between government departments and between government and NGOs.
offering victims of trafficking temporary or permanent permits as well as access to shelter, counseling, information, etc.
ensuring victims of trafficking have access to NGOs that can offer them assistance.
making available witness protection programs.
establishing policies and providing training to government officials.
The Canadian government waxes eloquent about the plight of victims of trafficking: especially as it pertains to women and children. But the local response has been to blame the victim, criminalize and stigmatize them, and close our eyes to the impact of globalization, poverty, corruption, human rights abuses, unwelcoming immigration policies and discriminatory administrative processes.
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization.
March 7, 2000
VACC Calls For Government/NGO Dialogue
Vancouver. The Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians today called upon the federal government to engage the non-governmental organizations in an effort to identify humanitarian and compassionate alternatives to the status quo response to migration. About 80 Chinese women will mark International Womens Day tomorrow in continuous detention in Canadian jails for the crime of entering Canada aboard a ship to seek a new beginning.
VACC has worked with various community agencies and continues to advocate for the Chinese refugee claimants in government-imposed detention. A total of 599 people arrived aboard 4 ships last year; almost all made a refugee claim. As of March 6th, a total of 549 cases were referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board. A total of 338 cases have been finalized by the IRB: 6 positive, 251 negative, 14 withdrawn and 67 abandoned. About 400 adults have been detained since their arrival. It is clear that the refugee determination system is not an appropriate policy instrument. We anticipate that the government will move to criminalize those who are refused refugee status in order to justify forced deportations, Victor Yukmun Wong, Executive Director of VACC said today. Given the deteriorating human rights situation in China, it is clearly unsafe to repatriate at this time. Non-governmental organizations continue to offer more constructive ideas and the Canadian government should listen.
VACC pointed to a policy paper issued by the Canadian Council for Refugees on February 20th. The CCR advanced a number of constructive suggestions:
International discussions about responding to trafficking have generated many recommendations that can be a useful guide for action here in Canada. They focus on:
preventing trafficking, including by addressing the economic and other causes.
prosecuting the traffickers.
protecting trafficked persons.
The last is particularly relevant for considering how Canada should be treating trafficked persons in Canada. Elements of the recommendations include:
developing a coordinated national strategy and ensure ongoing coordination between government departments and between government and NGOs.
offering victims of trafficking temporary or permanent permits as well as access to shelter, counselling, information, etc.
ensuring victims of trafficking have access to NGOs that can offer them assistance.
making available witness protection programs.
establishing policies and providing training to government officials.
The Canadian government waxes eloquent about the plight of victims of trafficking: especially as it pertains to women and children, Mr. Wong said. But the local response has been to blame the victim, criminalize and stigmatize them, and close our eyes to the impact of globalization, poverty, corruption, human rights abuses, and Euro-centric and elitist immigration policies.
VACC is an anti-racism and human rights organization based in Vancouver.
VACC 6 MONTH REPORT SUMMARY
January 20, 2000VACC releases this 6 month summary report on the humanitarian efforts to assist the Chinese refugee claimants.
Background
599 people arrived aboard four ships in 1999. VACC has worked with other organizations including SOS, DARE, SUCCESS and other faith and community organizations and volunteers. VACC has enumerated concerns over the handling of the people aboard the four ships by various agencies. The impact has been to criminalize and stigmatize the trafficked person.
Four phases identified to date:
1. Debate over refugee determination process and the right to an individual hearing and due process,
2. Concerns over the plight of the trafficked person and the criminal role of the people smugglers,
3. The refugee hearings and other subsequent legal mechanisms,
4. Policy option/recommendations and the issue of repatriation.
IRB Statistics
The IRB have been referred a total of 493 refugee claims. A total of 6 people were repatriated. The government still has not referred the 57 claims which they had initially refused to accept as refugee claims. VACC assumes that the other 43 also have exclusion orders.
The IRB-CRDD has finalized 180 claims: 4 Convention refugee decisions, 100 refused claims, 6 claims were withdrawn, 70 claims were abandoned.
There are still 135 refugee hearings scheduled to be heard and 178 claims where the hearing has been concluded and a decision is pending or the hearing has been rescheduled. Some refugee claimants in detention have had their cases declared abandoned by the IRB.
The IRB has been referred 25 refugee claims from the group that arrived aboard the California Jupiter.
Detention
VACC strongly protests group/continuous detention. More than 400 adults remain in detention at Canadian jails and prisons; the 25 men found in a shipping container this month are also detained.
Group/continuous detention is a political decision.
The use of group profiling to justify group/continuous detention is racist.
The 4 Convention refugees were detained by this government as flight risk.
Detention is contrary to the Charter of Rights: sections 7, 9, and 15.
Detention is costly: 12,000,000 spent to date, costs increase at 80,000 per day and 2,500,000 per month.
VACC forecasts that detention costs will exceed 30,000,000 by July 20th, 2000 the one-year anniversary of the arrival of the first ship.
Detention is not a deterrent. In fact the people smugglers are resorting to more dangerous modes of transport namely shipping containers. In Australia all boat arrivals are detined and some 3000 boat refugees have arrived; the Australian government has responded by offering temporary visas to some.
10 Chinese females were apprehended near Windsor, Ontario. Some arrived by ship in late November or December, not aboard one of the 4 ships, not in a shipping container, not by air. They were moved along the pipeline from Vancouver to Ontario with the help of Canadians.
Canadian jails and prisons are not the proper place to detain: there are at least three investigations underway into the treatment of the refugee claimants by Corrections BC officials: in November the women at BCCW complained of abusive treatment by prison staff, on November 28th four female Chinese refugee claimants were assaulted (one returned in a wheelchair) by prison guards at the Prince George jail, on December 8th a male Chinese refugee claimant received a serious cut above the eye resulting in loss of blood while being restrained.
Opportunity costs of detention
30,000,000 in annual detention costs would fund the annual salary costs for 600 positions in customs/immigration/RCMP/foreign affairs officers , would pay for the construction of 300 units of social housing, would fund 3000 hospital beds over a one year period, would fund SUCCESS for 4 years or PICs for 15 years
At the same time there have been no arrests or convictions of the senior-level people smugglers.
The government has misallocated the lions share of limited public resources into group/continuous detention.
Policy options
The existing practice is a reactive one and the policy instruments are not a good fit for the trafficked people. Specifically, the refugee determination process is a lengthy one and coupled with continuous detention becomes a very expensive policy option. At the same time there are no other port-of-entry options other than to make a refugee claim. If a claim is made, all are entitled to an individual hearing. So far less than 50% of the 599 have received a hearing and a decision. To date only 4 positive determinations.
There should be a category to protect trafficked persons. This would include the Russian women brought over as models and ending up in Toronto strip clubs, and Filipino women brought over as caregivers and exploited by Canadian employers.
The immigration and refugee categories are very narrow. In fact, 50% of Canadians would not qualify under our existing immigration criteria for independent immigration. There are administrative barriers: not enough resources at our overseas consulates and low acceptance rates at the Beijing embassy.
There are differential visa laws: class and Euro bias. Americans, British, South Koreans, Hong Kong Chinese may visit/enter Canada without a visa, mainland Chinese, Indians, Africans may not. The visa rule is in effect a barrier. You have to apply and that means someone can reject you. Yet, if you are British or an American, you enjoy the visa-free right of abode.
New developments
VACC has developed an information web-site at www.refugees.freeservers.com
VACC is developing policy options and recommendations to the federal and provincial governments. Canadians should consider more compassionate policy options to address the plight of the trafficked person. VACC raised 3 policy questions last September:
1. Why are people leaving China?
2. Who is facilitating their exit out of China and their journey in North America?
3. What happens to these people when they reach their destination?
VACC opposes group continuous detention and will participate in a legal challenge to the Canadian government policy of group/continuous detention.
