4) How does the current legal climate affect LGBT asylum seekers? All RT participants expressed concerns that the proposed Bill C-31 will have negative impacts on refugees and in particular on SOGI refugee claims, and will have major effects on their clients. However, the capacity to organize, both in terms of resources and in terms of potential risks to agencies, was identified as a barrier to critically engaging with the impact of these policy changes. • Documenting the impact of changes to Canada’s immigration and refugee policy were identified as areas for research over the four remaining years of the Envisioning project. • RT participants also identified a need to raise awareness about the impact of these changes, in both the general public and with refugee claimants.
“ For claimants there’s a need to show involvement in terms of their hearings. As part of your evidentiary truth, you have to show community involvement. Therefore…there has to be programs that are LGBT specific.” - RT participant
12
Exploring Asylum Issues
Summary:
Action Items & Issues for Consideration by Envisioning and Sector as a Whole • Documenting the impact of service ineligibility and/or inaccessibility for LGBT refugees and their impacts on claims process was identified as a focus for the Envisioning project. • Documenting where LGBT refugees go when they are not finding the services they need was suggested as one focus for the interviews with LGBT refugees; • It was suggested that Envisioning researchers should be particularly mindful of people with disabilities and the Deaf communities and that we ask explicit questions to probe what special issues there may be; • Documenting the impact of changes to Canada’s immigration and refugee policy were identified as areas for research over the four remaining years of the Envisioning project; • Research and recommendation about the subject of letter documentation of LGBT service use for the IRB claims process; • Lack of safety around disclosure of status to CBSA staff, settlement workers and lawyers was identified as a pressing issue, particularly for those fleeing a country where homosexuality is criminalized and officials of the state are associated with persecution, arrest, violence, and blackmail; • More research on conditions in countries with high numbers of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) asylum claims; • Documenting different cultural expressions and increasing the awareness and knowledge of IRB officials on SOGI issues in the global south; • Further research on the relation between asylum policy and Canadian foreign relations, especially in light of the “safe country” changes proposed by Bill C-31; • Further research and recommendations on the lack of LGBT and refugee positive services and programs, as well as insufficient training on LGBT issues;