加拿大移民部

加拿大移民部 2018年4月将提案 不再因健康原因拒绝移民申请者

加拿大联邦政府移民部长艾哈迈德·胡森(Ahmed Hussen)星期四表示,他将在四月份提出一项计划,改变过去审理移民申请时不接受健康有问题移民的做法。

加拿大在审核移民和难民申请时通常不接受有严重疾病者和残疾人,主要是担心会给本国医疗保健体系带来更重的负担。

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen makes his way to appear before the Commons Citizenship and Immigration committee in Ottawa on Nov. 23, 2017.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen makes his way to appear before the Commons Citizenship and Immigration committee in Ottawa on Nov. 23, 2017.


联邦议会反对党之一的新民主党则希望尽快结束移民法中的这一相关规定,他们认为这是“歧视性”条款。新民主党移民事务评论家关慧贞(Jenny Kwan)表示,他们自2016年开始就关注这个问题,可这个给移民申请人带来“头痛和艰难”的“歧视性”政策至今仍然存在。

众议院从在去年秋天开始研究这个问题,当时胡森对移民委员会说政府正致力于放弃这项实行了40年的政策,因为它“不符合加拿大社会尊重和善待残疾人的价值观”。

在加拿大,由于医疗保健是属于省政府承担和管理,因此接收健康有问题的移民会影响到各省的预算开支,所以也要尊重各省的意愿。

条例:加拿大在审核移民和难民申请时通常不接受有严重疾病者和残疾人,主要是担心会给本国医疗保健体系带来更重的负担。

胡森星期四出席了众议院移民委员会的会议,回答与会者的各种问题。例如加拿大艾滋病法律网络高级政策分析师就提出,政府必须废除相关条款,而不是修修补补。

在会上,胡森也被问到如何评估罗马尼亚和保加利亚游客不需签证后难民申请者大增的问题。据悉,自去年12月免除签证以来,已有232名来自这两个国家的人提出难民申请。而根据加拿大移民与难民委员会的数据,在免除签证前11个月内,没有收到任何来自罗马尼亚人的难民申请。

保守党移民评论员米歇尔·雷佩尔(Michelle Rempel)对此表示,在如此短的时间内,来自这两个国家的难民申请者大增令人关切,它表明政府没有适当的应对策略。

华人移民被拒:法官怼移民部,得艾滋不关你事

  在加拿大,一个艾滋病患者每年治疗费平均超过14000元,为此移民部在批准移民时会考虑这个因素。最近就有一个加拿大华人申请父母团聚移民被拒的案例,移民部的理由是申请人的父亲被查出HIV(艾滋病病毒)呈阳性,因为曾经有婚外性行为而感染HIV。但是上诉法官驳回了移民部的决定,法官说申请人父亲是因何患上爱滋病的与本案无关,移民部不能对其进行道德评判。

华人移民被拒:法官怼移民部,得艾滋不关你事

华人移民被拒:法官怼移民部,得艾滋不关你事


  包女士(化名)2001年从中国大陆移民到加拿大,居住在渥太华,事业顺风顺水,先后取得了注册会计师,金融分析师以及财务风险经理三项专业执照,成为了金融界专家,并且已经加入加拿大国籍,成为了加拿大公民。作为家中长女,她有赡养老人的责任和义务,于是就开始为自己的父母申请团聚移民,想要将父母接来身边照顾。她唯一的妹妹也于2007年移民加拿大,父母在中国没有其他子女了。

  2009年9月,包女士准备了所有相关材料,为自己的父母递交了团聚移民申请,担保父母移民加拿大,同时让父母去医院做了体检。不幸的是,2013年3月,包女士收到移民官发来的信件,告知她,她的父亲的艾滋病检验结果呈阳性,也就说,其父患有艾滋病,可能会给加拿大医疗系统带来额外的负担,但是,移民官当时并没有立刻拒绝其父母的移民申请,只是要求包女士对其父亲的体检结果做出回应。

  包女士于同年7月,再次提交了补充材料,资料表明她愿意主动承担同时也有能力承担父亲的医疗费用,同时,向联邦政府发出人道主义援助申请。然而,2014年5月,移民局还是拒绝了其父母的移民申请,移民局认为,没有足够证据表明包女士会负担其父亲一年15000加元的医药费,同时,虽然包女士的母亲身体健康,但是,她是与丈夫一同递交申请,所以也遭到了移民局的拒绝。

  包女士对此决定表示不服,于是上诉至移民和难民委员会的上诉庭,遗憾的是2017年5月,上诉庭驳回了包女士的上诉请求,同时表示其父亲的情况不足以获得人道主义援助。

  在被拒绝两次之后,包女士没有放弃,她选择向联邦法院进行申诉,包女士得到了安省性病法律诊所和加拿大艾滋病法律网络的帮助,两家机构分别聘请了律师,作为干预方出席法院聆讯。

  2017年年底,联邦法院判定搁置上诉庭的决定,法院认为,包女士的父亲并不是因为他行为不检或者道德问题造成的,患病情况比较特殊,理应获得特别照顾,加国政府也应该向其提供人道主义援助,法院还要求上诉庭另一个评审团重新审理该案件。移民部的文件中提到本案爱滋病可能和患者道德有关,法官称,移民部这样做看来是要对担保人的父亲进行道德评判。移民部无权成为道德警察,因此批准上诉。

  根据加拿大的移民政策,如果申请人的身体状况有可能给加拿大的医疗系统带来额外负担,同时,其病情可能危害公共健康或者公共安全,那申请者将无法移民加拿大,甚至连旅游签证都拿不到,但是也有一些特例,即使患病也能移民,包括难民,受加国政府保护的人,加国公民以及加国永久居民担保的配偶和子女。

  据多伦多太阳报报道,数千名移民前检测出HIV(艾滋病病毒)呈阳性的移民被允许进入加拿大。自2002年1月至2006年12月,共有2567名移民申请人被检测出HIV呈阳性,患有艾滋病,但只有126人被拒。大多数情况下,这些申请人并不被认为威胁公众健康或者增加加拿大医疗系统负担。

  根据艾滋病治疗机构——Southern Alberta Clinic提供的数据,2003年,每月治疗艾滋病病人的花费是1100元,现在每年约需14000元。

艾滋唐氏都可以移民加拿大 提案终止歧视残疾人士

 国会议员关慧贞(中)就歧视残疾人士推出私人法案,在国会大楼召开记者会,介绍她在国会提出的私人法案。

 国会议员关慧贞(中)就歧视残疾人士推出私人法案,在国会大楼召开记者会,介绍她在国会提出的私人法案。

  国会议员关慧贞(中)就歧视残疾人士推出私人法案,在国会大楼召开记者会,介绍她在国会提出的私人法案。

  温哥华东区国会议员关慧贞(Jenny Wai Ching Kwan)日前在国会大楼召开记者会,介绍她在国会提出的私人法案。在场表达支持的有Brock大学教育学系副院长班力教授(Shelia Bennett),和加拿大爱滋病法律网络的汤健臣(Maurice Tomlinson)。

  加拿大的移民法例歧视残疾人士,在移民及难民保护法的第38(1)(c)项容许政府因为其中一名成员是残疾人士,又或移民官认为有家庭成员会造成加拿大的医疗或社会负担,而否定整个家庭的移民申请,即使政府官员承认在作出决定时并没有考虑到成本效益的因素。

  身为新民党移民、难民及公民事务评论员的关慧贞说:”加拿大的移民法为移民家庭做成伤害和痛苦,我们不应容许这样的事继续下去。因此我在国会提出私人法案废除现在的歧视性法例。”

  关慧贞指出,移民部长本人曾经承认第38(1)(c)项违背加拿大所宣称的包容价值和加拿大人的信念。移民部长对破坏家庭的法例一再拖延令人费解和感到不安,究竟我们要再听到几多个令人心伤的故事才能令政府採取行动?

  关慧贞列举例子,Melissa的永久居民申请由于她患有唐氏症(Downs Syndrome)的儿子而被政府拒绝。她的儿子其实能够照顾自己,并且可以担当低技术工作。Melissa是一名单亲母亲,她的工作是为加拿大人照顾子女,工作令她跟自己的子女分隔差不多十年之久。

Ahmed Hussen: Rules Barring Would-Be Immigrants With Health Issues ‘Outdated’
11/22/2017

He’s leaving open the possibility of scrapping Section 38-1C.

A section of Canada’s immigration law barring anyone from settling in the country if they have a condition deemed a burden on medical or social services is outdated and needs to be brought in line with Canadian values, the minister in charge said Wednesday.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said he’s committed to changing the rules currently spelled out in the country’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and left the door open to the possibility of repealing the controversial section altogether.

Section 38-1C states that a person can’t be admitted to Canada if they have a health condition that “might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services.”

‘This provision needs to be changed’

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is studying medical inadmissibility criteria for newcomers at the request of provincial and territorial ministers and has heard from numerous groups who argued the rules discriminate against people with disabilities and should be scrapped.

Hussen appeared before the committee Wednesday, capping three days of hearings, and said the current rules that have been in place for 40 years are in need of an overhaul.

“This provision needs to be changed. It’s simply not in line with our government’s policies with respect to moving towards an accessibility agenda, but also with … how Canadians are increasingly of the opinion that we should be more inclusive as a society,” Hussen said before the committee. “I personally think this provision is out of date in terms of looking at those two things.”

Hussen was vague on exactly how the law might be changed, saying no decisions would be made without input from the provinces and territories who bear most of the costs of health and social services.

He said, however, that repealing 38-1C was one of the options on the table.

Earlier:

Other options, Hussen said later Wednesday, would include exempting certain groups from the policy or increasing the financial threshold the government uses to calculate admissibility.

Currently a person is generally found inadmissible to Canada if the government determines that their health and social service costs exceed $6,655 per year.

Hussen said raising that bar would have a significant impact.

“That option alone … will eliminate 80 or 90 per cent of the people that are now captured by the policy,” Hussen said of the present setup.

A complete repeal is the route favoured by numerous groups who appeared before the committee this week. Among them were disability rights advocates who denounced the current system as “discriminatory” and “demeaning.”

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities told the committee that antiquated notions about disabled people lie at the heart of the law.

Our government wants to ensure that the implementation of this policy aligns with our values regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities into Canadian society.

The current rules are based on the assumption that a person with a disability is an inherent burden on society regardless of any other skills or qualities they have to offer, the council said.

A more modern approach, it argued, is to consider societal barriers disabled people encounter in everything from inaccessible physical environments to non-inclusive legislation.

The council also told the committee that Section 38-1C flies in the face of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the government signed on to earlier this year.

It said the current system openly violates clauses such as Article 18, which affirms disabled people’s right to “liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others.”

Council First Vice-Chair John Rae has said he hoped Section 38-1C of the Act will ultimately be scrapped and called on the committee to ensure disabled groups have a say in any new law created to take its place.

Hussen said the government remains focused on protecting health, social and education services, but emphasized the need to be more welcoming towards disabled immigrants.

“Our government wants to ensure that the implementation of this policy aligns with our values regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities into Canadian society,” he said.

— with files from Stephanie Levitz in Ottawa.