Immigration lawyer Max Berger, who is representing a Roma refugee facing removal, is arguing that the Canadian Immigration Minister’s public criticisms about Czech refugees have prejudiced asylum cases before the independent Immigration and Refugee Board and before immigration officials charged with Pre-Removal Risk Assessments.

Jason Kenny, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, made his comments regarding Czech refugee claims last year, while defending his decision to re-impose the visa requirement for Czech citizens. Among other things, he said that refugee claims from Czechs (who are now part of the European Union) made no sense because they could easily move to “26 other Western democracies in the European Union.”

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) there has been a substantial increase of refugee claims being made by Czech citizens since the visa requirement was eliminated on October 31, 2007. More than 840 Czech refugee claims were received in 2008, compared with less than five claims in 2006. In total, nearly 3,000 claims have been filed by Czech nationals since October 2007, with over half of them in the first four months of 2009 alone.

According to Mr. Berger, 94% of Czech refugees were granted refugee status in 2008, with another 81% accepted in the first quarter of last year, just before Minister Kenney said in Paris in April that “it is hard to believe that the Czech Republic is an island of persecution in Europe.” Canada imposed visa restrictions on Czech visitors in July. Between July and September 2009, acceptance of Czech refugee claims plummeted to 30%, said Berger.

In his submission, Berger cited the opinions of several legal experts who questioned Kenney’s political influence into the refugee board’s independence. “When the minister pronounces on the validity, or lack thereof, of refugee claimants from any country without having heard the particular case and knowing the individual circumstances, there is the risk that individual decision makers whose jobs ultimately depend on the minister’s decision to appoint and reappoint, will be unduly influenced,” said University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin.

Calling the bias argument a “red herring,” government lawyer Amina Riaz said the acceptance rate for Roma refugees were “sensationalized and inflated” because it only compared asylum claims rejected or accepted by the refugee board and excluded the many cases that were “withdrawn or abandoned.” Riaz also argued that acceptance rates based on decisions by the refugee board have no relevance to Pre-Removal Risk Assessments determined by CIC officials; both operate independently and separately.

The full article is available here.