THE REFUGEES WE DON't WANT to KEEP Some Background to the Case of Victor Regalado by Kristin Hanson
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> THE REFUGEES WE DON'T WANT TO KEEP Some Background to the Case of Victor Regalado By Kristin Hanson Being recognized as a refugee in the case of his country armed force was to Parliament when it was enacted, Canada does not necessarily entail the only recourse possible against because the following subsection being granted asylum in Canada. A governmental terrorism. provides for a special annual report to be refugee will generally not be given Regardless of the merit of this made to Parliament of any such permission to stay if he is already argument, what has excited so much ire certificate issued," wrote Judge J.A. protected by or returnable to a country in Mr. Regalado's case is that he has Montgomery. Only eleven such other than the one where he fears been determined to fall within this class, certificates have been issued since the persecution, except out of special and therefore has been detained and lmmigration Act took effect in 1978. humanitarian considerations. He will ordered deported, not in virtue of any Never before has it been used in the case also not be given permission tostay if he factual evidence presented to an of a refugee. is found to fall within certain categories immigration officer, or adjudicator, or related, essentially, to security or judge, or his lawyer, or himself, but on ictor Regalado is a 33-year-old criminal conduct. The required security the basis of the following attestation: journalist from El Salvador. clearance has recently been dramatized v We, the under5igRsdI .mycertify that it is According to his lawyer, he used to be in a rather extreme form in the much our opinion based on security and criminal an activist with the Democratic publicized story - "Expel me and I die, intelligence reports received and considered Nationalist Union which today forms Salvadoran tells immigration hearing" . by us, which qaonot be reveals@in grder to part of the Democratic Revolutionary "Une incamhtion injustifw . 'Une protect Information sources, 'that Victor Front (FDR), the political arm of the deportation honteuse" - of Victor Manuel Regalado is a person described in Salvadoran opposition. He claims that Regalado. paragraph (19#7) (f) oUhe lmmigration Act, he has never promoted the use of Canada's lmmigration Act designates 1976, his presence in Canada being detrimental to the national interest. violence to overthrow the junta, nor certain classes of people as been part of the guerilla movement. Signed: Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of inadmissible to Canada. Although most He first came to Canada in February of these exclusions make an exception Immigration, and Robert Kaptan, Solicitor General. 1980 as a visitor, and visited Salvadoran for refugees, a few do not, including the groups in Canada and presented one specified in section (19) (1) (f): Under section (39) of the lmmigration information and political analysis on persons who there are reasonablegroundsto Act, such a certificate, when it deals with behalf of the FDR. His visa lapsed, and believe will, while in Canada, engage in or someone other than a Canadian citizen although he applied for permanent instigate the subversion by force of any or a permanent resident, is in and of residence in Canada, he left in August government. itself proof of the matter stated in the 1980 for Nicaragua, where he attended a certificate. And under section (19) of the conference of journalism students and This section has some notoriety in itself. Act, the report on which such an Salvadoran journalists, and then went At the time of the drafting of the current attestation is based may not be required on to Mexico. At the end of December lmmigration Act it was noted that, to be produced in a court or any other 1981, he left Mexico to come to Canada. among other problems, this section proceeding. After being refused a visa by the technically left the door open, for "That such a provision is contrary to Canadian consulate in Mexico City, he example, for a refugee from a terrorist the principles of justice normally crossed the Mexico-United States regime to be expelled for saying that in respected in Canada was no doubt clear border on foot and, travelling without stopping, arrived on January 5, 1981, at the Canadian border at Blackpool, south A NOTE ON SECURITY CERTIFICATES of Montreal, where he requested Canadian protection as a refugee. Translated and excerpted from a paper by Dominique Boisvert He was temporarily returned to the United States. If an immigration officer Of what value are the "secret security or the Lybii death squad that was supposedly thinks that it will be contrary to the criminal intelligence reports" on which a in thp United States to assassinate President lmmigration Act to let someone enter security certificate is based? Reagan. The FBI had to admit later that the Canada, he reports that to a senior Who furnishes the information? We death squad was undoubtedly a fabrication, immigration officer, who in turn either and that they didn't have any proof and had can't know for sure since it's all state lets the person in or holds an inquiry. If secrets, but we can be pretty certain that pethaps been deceived by their source. In the secret reports are prepared by the November a Quebecois leader of a Catholic no adjudicator is available to preside at security services of the RCMP, which are activist movement was arrested by the the inquiry, if the person concerned was in turn fed, particularly in thecaseof Latin American authorities at Dorval before a residing or sojourning in the U.S., he America, by the American intelligence connecting flight to Miami en route to Latin may be returned to the U.S. until an services such as the CIA and FBI. On July America. According to the computers of adjudicator is available. 12, 1977, in front of the Parliamentary American customs, he had been convicted To digress for a moment, Mr. Committee of Manpower and Immigration, a of fraud here and did not have the right to Regalado's lawyer, Noel St. Pierre, former deputy minister of lmmigration leave Canadian soil, being under probation suggests that "this article [(23)(4)] should admitted that it was foreign intelligence until June 1982. Now he had never had the not be applied to persons demanding services (read: American) that told the Can- slightest quarrel with the police or the adian government how it should treat the judicial authorities, and the RCMP itself refugee status and who have no legal information communicated to it if it didn't confirmed that they had nothing against status in the U.S. Otherwise there is always want to see its sources of information dry up. him! Evidently it had been an unfortunate the danger that the person sent back, even What credibility do these information computer error. if he has a document telling him to present sources have? Unfortunately for our With a security certificate against him himself at the Canadian border at a "security", the information of intelligence instead of evidence, who can assure us that certain time, may be treated as an illegal services is often unreliable. The recent Victor Regalado is not also a victim of a examples multiply. It suffices to remember computer error? Statement by the Honourable immigrant by the American authorites hat happens to a refugee who is Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of and eventually sent back to his country W expelled from a country where he Employment and lmmigration of origin." has sought asylum, on the grounds that concerning the case of Victor In the case of Mr. Regalado this almost he poses a security threat? Under the Manuel Regalado happened, according to Mr. St. Pierre. United Nations Convention Relating to I would like to clarify some of the issues "The American immigration service had the Status of Refugees a state is to allow arising from the case of Victor Manuel received the information that he was such a refugee time in which to seek Regalado. undesirable in Canada, and that he legal admission into another country. As you know, the Solicitor General and I would be expelled from Canada and This is possible because one country's have determined that it would be contrary possibly returned to the U.S. The security risk may be another country's to Canada's interests to permit Mr. American authorities, wanting to finish Regalado to remain in Canada. Our good citizen. An example was presented decision was based not on what Mr. with the case, transferred him to the at the recent National Symposium on Regalado has said orwritten, but ratheron prison in Plattsburg, N.Y., and gave him Refugee Determination of a refugee in a the activities in which he was engaged. a document beginning the procedures Scandinavian country who was a Mr. Regalado, while in Canada, for deportation from the U.S. dissident from an African liberation participated in activities which were "It was only after a series of movement the country of asylum was contrary to the laws of Canada and which interventions by Montreal and Toronto supporting. For another country he could result in danger to individual lawyers, and with the assurance that he posed no problem, and the two Canadians and to this country's national would not be immediately expelled from governments arranged for him to interest. The information compelling us to Canada, that American immigration reach this conclusion cannot be revealed receive asylum in that cou~tryinstead. without damaging our national security. returned him to Canadian immigration In Mr. Regalado's case, Mr. Axworthy For this reason, the Solicitor General and I to sit the special inquiry where he has indicated that Canada would not signed a Section 39 Certificate which has officially requested refugee status, send him "back to El Salvador, or even to the effect of protecting the sources of our January 7, 1981." the U.S., which has a policy of not information.