Groups want ‘truly inclusive’ program of regularization for undocumented migrants
Posted October 25, 2022 2:04 pm.
Last Updated October 25, 2022 2:06 pm.
Nearly two dozen community and labour organizations want the Canadian government’s upcoming program of regularization for undocumented migrants to be “truly inclusive.”
Amnesty International says it is joined by 20 organizations – backed by business and religious groups – in demanding the implementation of the program be done correctly.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have made steps towards creating a regularization plan, which is expected to provide permanent residence to undocumented and temporary migrants.
Amnesty International Canada Francophone says the government’s plan would regularize roughly 500,000 people with non-status.
“The human rights of non-status and precarious people are constantly violated: their rights to work, their right to health, and sometimes even their right to life,” Marisa Berry Méndez, the campaigns manager with Amnesty International Canada Francophone, said in a statement.
“The regularization of their migration status is an effective way to protect the rights of these people. Amnesty International Canada supports the call for a broad and inclusive regularization program in Quebec and Canada.”
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The signatory organizations are asking that the federal government’s program – the one it’s currently working on – be “truly inclusive.” The demand is that requirements are minimized and that the application process is streamlined.
At the provincial level, the groups are asking the Quebec government to “commit to its implementation.”
“It is essential that Quebec partner with the federal government for the success of a regularization program for people without status in Quebec,” said Stephan Reichhold, the director of the Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiés et immigrantes (TCRI).
Some of the groups involved include the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Clinique pour la justice migrante (CJM), Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) and Médecins du Monde Canada.
The next joint action from the groups is scheduled for Nov. 6 in Quebec.
