I don't want to sound like an antique, but back in the good ol' days, TIG was a wonderful place to inspire, inform and "be" inspired.
Much has sadly changed.
Now, I have no intent in logging into my page, knowing it is full of marriage proposals from freaks in Timbukto and poems from idiots without passports promising the world at my feet.
Was the idea too far fetched? Too accessible? Too big to be "useful?"
I don't know, but one thing is certain, TIG has just mirrored the plight of "youth", that is "temporary and temperamental" TIG has become a hunting ground for non-youths, and to think that young people are logging in, only to be harrased by some dumbasses with a computer and an internet connection.
Frankly, If I had a child wanting to be involved with issues pertaining to their world -TIG is not what I would direct them to.
I suppose this is something no one can control - pity, because for once, an avenue has been created to be utilised constructively, bt now, nada....

ah well, farewell and "be an inspiration"

Dear Friends,

Migrant workers in Thailand need your support!

Under the Provincial Decree on Migrant Workers from Burma, Cambodia and Lao, migrant workers are not allowed to use mobile phones, ride motorbikes, or leave the worksite at night between the hours of 8:00pm and 6:00am. Further, a ban has been placed on assemblies of more than five persons. Please sign for the withdrawal of the discriminatory Decree upon migrant workers.



http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support_thai_migrant_workers


Thank you for your support!

In solidarity,

Imran
Thailand

Strict visa rulings called unfair
Are visitors from developing countries being denied entry into Canada due to old rules?

Aug 21, 2007 04:30 AM
Nicholas Keung
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY REPORTER
The Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/248246

Guillermo Duarte had a lot to prove just to take a two-week vacation to visit his brother in Canada.

The engineer, 36, had to convince Canadian visa officers that he, his engineer wife, Luz, and their younger children Fernando, 10, and Faviola, 8, had strong enough ties to Guatemala to ensure they would leave Canada after a visit to his brother, Mauricio, in Toronto.

But after paying a non-refundable fee of $300, they were denied visitor's visas. (Even leaving two teens at home didn't convince the officer they wouldn't stay in Canada.)

While the denial cost the Duartes a ruined vacation, for other prospective visitors it might mean not being able to bid farewell to a dying relative, attend a loved one's wedding, or see a newborn grandchild.

This summer, the body of immigrant Hu Xiu-hua lay unclaimed in a Toronto morgue for eight weeks because her retired parents in China were denied a visa six times.

As a growing number of Canada's immigrants arrive from developing countries such as China, India and the Philippines, whose citizens need visas to visit, the problem of denials is becoming more acute.

Critics wonder if overseas visa officers grasp Canada's new reality when they reject entry with the stroke of a pen. A refusal may permanently affect future attempts.

"It's a very big problem for our community," says Gurmeet Singh of Brampton's Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Sikh temple. "And it's going to get worse ... if our visa officials don't change their attitude and show some compassion."

Visas are imposed to help "facilitate the entry of bonafide visitors to Canada for such purposes as trade, commerce, tourism, international understanding, and cultural, educational and scientific activities, while also protecting the health, safety and security of Canadian society," says Citizenship and Immigration spokesperson Karen Shadd-Evelyn.

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) says her office has 65 outstanding complaints from constituents involving relatives' failed visa applications.

"Visa officers have the discretionary power to decide who to let in. There's no humanitarian and compassionate consideration. Their decisions are completely arbitrary and don't get reviewed," Chow says. "The onus should've been on the Canadian officials to show that these people would not leave Canada after their visits."

Duarte walked into the Canadian embassy in Guatemala City last month, hands full of documents: pay stubs, an employer letter, bank statements, the deeds on his three properties and a passport to show his lengthy travel history.

When his first try failed, his brother in Canada wrote an official invitation and asked his local councillor, MP and even a senator to intervene. The visa office later called Duarte in to apply for a minister's special permit for an extra $185. But by then, the date was too close to the family's booked vacation time and the airfare too expensive. "We are all disappointed," says Mauricio Duarte, who immigrated 17 years ago. "Whenever we go back home, we stay with our families and relatives. We would like to play hosts to someone when they come here."

Lawyer Avvy Go, director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, points out there's no guarantee that visitors from visa-exempt countries would leave Canada either.

"There's ... an underlying prejudicial overtone against those from developing countries. It's not really just a class issue, because you can be a millionaire in China but still get rejected," she says. "The visa ... is to protect our border from the `undesirables.' That's why we welcome some more than others."

Shadd-Evelyn says visa officers consider many factors in their decision, such as whether applicants can document that they have enough money to fund their stay.

Rather than paint everyone from the developing world with the same brush, says Liberal MP Colleen Beaumier (Brampton West), Ottawa should start collecting exit records on visitors so as to identify offenders, and monitor whether visa officers exercise "discretion" fairly.

Immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann says that since 9/11 visa offices have been under pressure to scrutinize applicants more closely, but with no new resources. They're inclined to be strict, he notes.

"Immigration reacts slowly to the global economic and political changes. Countries like China and India are becoming bigger economic powers," says Mamann, an ex-immigration officer. "My concern is our visa officers are still using outdated standards to judge these applications, (believing) these people will come and stay in Canada."

If nothing changes, he adds, Canada stands to lose the substantial economic benefits from delegates attending conferences, buyers going to trade shows and tourists all in a world that's become closer and more intimate than ever before.

Entry requirements

Countries whose citizens need visas to visit: 148

Where: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, South and Central America

Non-refundable fees: single entry, $75 per person; multiple entry $150; $400 per family

Applications received at visa posts annually: 1 million

Approval rate: 80 per cent

Top 10 visitor source countries: United Kingdom, France, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Australia, South Korea, China, Netherlands and India

Visa-required countries in top 10: 2 (China and India)

Top 10 immigrant source countries: China, India, Philippines, Pakistan, United States, Iran, United Kingdom, Korea, Colombia and France

Visa-required countries in top 10: 6 (except U.S., U.K., Korea and France)

Dear All

I want to share really a good news about me. I got scholarship for my Masters At Mahidol University Thailand in International Human Rights. For that first of all, I am Thankful to Almighty Allah, due that it happend. I am also thankful to my friends and TIG becasue they always give me moral support and encouragement to reahed upto this achivement.
Thank you Taking it global. I will leave for Thailand on 16 June 2007 to join the course.

Good news - Bill C-280 passed 3rd reading in the House! Next step: the Senate.

Toronto Star
New bill misses point

May 24, 2007 04:30 AM
Allan Thompson

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley has taken steps to keep
vulnerable people out of Canada with a new bill that would instruct
immigration officers to deny work permits to foreign strippers or others
bound for "humiliating or degrading treatment." According to Finley and
her officials, these measures would help "strippers, low-skilled labourers
as well as potential victims of human trafficking," by keeping them out of
Canada and out of the degrading work.

Some newcomers to Canada would tell you strippers are not the only people
forced to work in degrading, demoralizing jobs after they arrive. Talk to
the skilled professionals driving cabs, the doctors working as orderlies
and the lawyers making telemarketing calls. They need Finley's attention
too.

Some critics see Finley's proposal as a crass political move designed to
conjure up memories of the Liberal era "strippergate," the case of an
exotic dancer who ended up working for then immigration minister Judy
Sgro. Indeed, Finley made an explicit connection to the Sgro situation in
her public rationale for the proposed changes.

Certainly there is reason to question whether Finley's proposal to use
legislative changes to block strippers should top the agenda, or even if
it is the most effective way to deal with victims of human trafficking, or
those in vulnerable situations.

The Canadian Council for Refugees, an umbrella organization for groups
dealing with refugees, has been floating a proposal for months for
legislative change that would provide more protection for victims of
trafficking who find themselves in Canada. Notably the refugee council
proposal deals with helping vulnerable people in Canada, rather than
focusing on keeping vulnerable people out of the country.

According to the refugee council, provisions in the law now serve only to
criminalize trafficking and promote the detention of trafficked persons.
The refugee council is calling for explicit changes that would make it a
priority to protect the human rights of trafficked persons in Canada.

The refugee council says the rules for how trafficked persons can seek
temporary residence in Canada are of limited use. For one thing,
applicants have to meet a high standard to prove they are indeed a victim
of trafficking. And they are obliged to talk to law enforcement officials
as part of the process of being allowed to remain, something the council
fears would deter many from even coming forward.

The refugee council's proposals are worth a look, especially if we are
serious about dealing with human trafficking.

And when it comes to addressing the needs of those vulnerable to abuse,
other issues cry out for the minister's attention. Canada has been
criticized for its agonizingly slow process for dealing with requests for
resettlement to Canada by vulnerable people. The office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is aware of the problem.

Wouldn't it make more sense to focus our energy on the vulnerable people
who need Canada's protection, rather than devising ways to keep people
out?

Government bill takes the wrong approach to the problem of trafficking

Montréal – The Canadian Council for Refugees today expressed disappointment with Bill C-57, tabled in Parliament on 16 May by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

“This bill does nothing to protect the rights of trafficked persons already here in Canada,” said Loly Rico, chair of the CCR’s Anti-Trafficking Committee. “Worse, the bill takes a condescending, moralistic approach, empowering visa officers to decide which women should be kept out of Canada for their own good.”

The CCR is deeply concerned about the exploitation of non-citizens in Canada, and the lack of adequate measures to protect them. The CCR has prepared a proposal to protect trafficked persons, available at http://www.ccrweb.ca/traffickingproposal.html.

The CCR finds Bill C-57 problematic in a number of ways:

- The bill fails to address the root problem of the existence in Canada of jobs that humiliate and degrade workers. Work permits can only be issued by visa officers after the employer’s job offer has been validated by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). Why is such work available in Canada if it humiliates and degrades workers?

- Only a handful of work permits have been issued to “exotic dancers” in recent years. Parliamentary time would be better used to address the broader problem of the exploitation of non-citizens in Canada.

- The bill proposes to address the problem of exploitation by excluding people, mostly women, from Canada. It is demeaning for women to have a visa officer decide that they should be kept out of Canada for their own protection.

- The bill fails to address the situation of the most vulnerable of exploited non-citizens: those who have no valid work permit. In fact, closing the door on valid work permits may expose women to greater vulnerability by forcing them underground.

- The government’s focus on “strippers” betrays a moralistic approach. Instead of passing moral judgment, the government should work on ensuring that non-citizens’ rights are protected and that they have the freedom to make informed choices about their own lives.

The Minister’s announcement of Bill C-57 is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/07/2007-05-16.html

CIC
News release
Canada’s new government to facilitate the immigration of stateless
Vietnamese living in the Philippines

Ottawa, May 22, 2007 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, today announced that Canada will facilitate
the immigration of Vietnamese living in the Philippines without status
since the late 1970s through humanitarian and compassionate provisions.

“Canada’s new government will make every effort to examine the special
circumstances of this community, and to facilitate their immigration to
Canada,” said Minister Finley. “We will work with the Vietnamese Canadian
Federation to identify those still living in the Philippines without
status.”

Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, more than half a million Vietnamese
fled Vietnam, with many arriving in the Philippines. Several hundred
Vietnamese eventually remained in the Philippines because they were not
recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. A number have since immigrated to other countries, including
Canada, as part of an international effort to help them. But approximately
150 Vietnamese remain without status in the Philippines.

While this group is not considered to be in need of protection, they can
apply for humanitarian and compassionate consideration. This is a
discretionary provision under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
which allows for permanent residence to be granted on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds. Applications received by December 31, 2007, will be
considered on a priority basis. This does not guarantee acceptance. While
the goal is to facilitate the immigration of these individuals to Canada,
immigration officers must examine applications on a case-by-case basis and
use their discretion to decide whether the case warrants exemption from
the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.

The Sudbury Star
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=533615&catname=Editorial&classif =
Bill has politics written all over it
Editorial - Friday, May 18, 2007 @ 09:00

It is hard to understand why the federal Conservative government, having been in power for so little time, has decided the plight of exotic dancers needs to be pushed to the top of the national agenda.

The industry in Canada, apparently, has a shortage of workers, so immigrants are needed, but very few are actually entering the country for that purpose.

It is not possible to make an impassioned argument that a shortage of workers in the exotic dancing industry would somehow be damaging to the nation's economic health, but it is also hard to buy into Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley's bill aimed at barring foreign exotic dancers from entering Canada.

Bill C-57 would give immigration officers at foreign missions the power to refuse temporary workers thought to be at risk of exploitation.

It has the look of political opportunism, with the idea of sustaining the spectre of Liberal scandal.

Finley says the new legislation was merely a response to the previous Liberal government's scandal in which former immigration minister Judy Sgro fast-tracked immigration papers of a Romanian stripper who worked on her election campaign.

Said Finley: "The good old days of Liberal Stripper-gate will be a thing of the past."

She is also trying to play the moral card, which, on the surface, is hard to argue with.

Said Finley: "What we're trying to do here is protect vulnerable foreign workers, ones that could easily be exposed to sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse."

In 2005, after the rules were tightened up by the Liberals, 10 people were admitted into the country with temporary work permits for the purpose of working as exotic dancers.

And now the issue has somehow made it onto the national agenda.

While we cannot question Finley's stated and worthwhile intention of protecting immigrant women from being forced into prostitution, how does this bill address any problems with the exotic dancing industry?

Said Annie Temple, who operates an advocacy website for strippers: "Keeping foreign exotic dancers out of Canada will not address the issue of exploitation. If the Conservative government is truly concerned about exploitation of exotic dancers, then they should focus on ensuring health and safety standards exist at strip clubs." Fair enough.

If there are problems with the industry, address them. Simply barring foreign strippers, while leaving whatever problems exist to Canadian workers cannot be a pragmatic solution.

Finley will likely continue to paint this legislation as humanitarian gesture, but she has not made a convincing argument for the need for a new law, which will take up the time of parliamentary committees.

Bill C-57 is too half-hearted to be taken seriously and it is not an effective use of a valuable government legislative agenda.

Dear All Members of TIG,

I am Imran Khan Laghari, (LL.B) law graduate from Pakistan. I am a human rights activist and lawyer. I belong to a remote area and my father is a farmer. I applied for admission as well as scholarship at Mahidol University for M.A Human Rights at Thailand. I was selected by the Selection Committee of the University but from this year, the grantor from, which University get scholarships for students had finish their contract with the University because of this reason University is unable to provide me scholarship and due that it seems clear that I will loose my academic year and chance to do the most important course of my career as it is also important for my country and people because in Asia Mahidol University the only University offering this degree in Human Rights in English.

I want to appeal all the members of TIG as it is a world wide group if any member know any organization or working with an organization who can support me and provide me funding for my Masters, so I will able to save my academic year by availing this most important course which is taught by Mahidol University Thailand in the Asia.

Hope your urgent reply will help me a lot.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board is in the midst of what some observers call a "crisis" situation. The chair of the board has resigned, as well as an advisory panel. And the board is short of one third of the members who make Board decisions.


May 10, 2007
OTTAWA – The Conservative government continues to drag its feet on fixing Canada’s refugee system at the expense of fairness, objectivity, efficiency and compassion, Liberal Immigration Critic Omar Alghabra charged today.

“This government is unwilling to acknowledge that it has created a crisis at the Immigration and Refugee Board, let alone deal with the ever-growing backlog of individuals awaiting case hearings under its watch,” said Mr. Alghabra.

“Most concerning is the fact that they are putting their political interests and ideology before those facing life and death.”

Mr. Alghabra made his comments following the passage of his motion at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration today.

The motion rejects the intention of the Conservative government to change the selection process for appointing IRB adjudicators. It calls on the Conservative government to stop politicizing the IRB appointment process and to fill the 60 vacancies on the IRB with members from a pool of qualified candidates in order to process the mounting backlog of refugee cases. According to recent reports, the backlog has doubled in the first three months of this year.

Last month, former IRB chairman Jean-Guy Fleury told the committee that the government’s plans to allow the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to appoint half the members of an independent advisory body leaves the board open to political influences.

Since taking power last year, the minority Conservatives have allowed the number of vacancies on the board’s 156-member compliment to grow from five to 60.

All committee members voted in favour of Mr. Alghabra’s motion except for the Conservative members. In fact, the Conservative members will be tabling their own dissenting report to contradict the motion.

“The Conservatives campaigned on reducing political influence when it comes to government appointments, instead they are setting back the clock on significant progress that had been made over the last few years under the Liberal government,” said Mr. Alghabra. “This is further proof that they just don’t care about this issue. But Canadians care about the integrity of our systems, they care about the fairness of our processes and they care about the implication these changes will have. They continue to put politics ahead of the integrity of Canada’s desire to pursue fairness and compassion.”

Now a days Pakistan is facing problem of deficiency of electric power. Whole nation is disturbed because of frequent electric shutdowns. Many times in day hours and many times at night electric supply is disconnected for all the Pakistanis for many hours. Summer season has started and will long till October. This (April - October) period is thought to be very hot in Sindh , Punjab, NWFP and Baluchistan provinces. Temperature is rising from 44 C now a days and will go to 50 C at peak (June). The whole human life is being disturbed at the time. Major problem resulting electric shutdowns are

Frequent deaths of patients in hospitals.
Business drops in urban markets
Death risks in Shopping centers, lifts and electric elevators.
Sparking of electrical appliances.
Low industrial products
Unemployment
Increase in production cost
Financial inflation
Rising of prices
Decrease in GDP and exports
Poverty Rising Indicator
Sleepless nights and decrease of human health
Deficiency of market products
High prices for consumer goods

Imagine a dark room, Suspend a coin at centre of the room. Now as you switch on the light of the room. Look at the coin. You can observe a sparkling light reflecting from the coin.

Its human tendency or so to call it natural tendency, we first see the sparkle. In real life, we similarly look at the sparkling aspects first. All the glamorous or highlighted aspects of life comes to our notice first. If we observe carefully at the coin. The area which is sparkling, the area which is dimly lighted and the area which is not receiving any light, is actually made of same material in all the three cases. Its just two factors for which we give importance to the area which is sparkling. The factors are time and space. It was matter of time which is incidental that the source of light was placed. And its that space which determines your point of view. In real life its the same factors which play a role in our thought process. Well in fact, each and every aspects of life has the same importance or rather no importance similarly to the coin. Every sparkle is periodic so is every aspect.
The sparkle of the coin or life is just one aspect, not the whole philosophy.


There is also a third side of the coin, which determines the other two.

OTTAWA, May 8 /CNW Telbec/ - The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) is sending a provocative Canadian-made television advertising
campaign around the world in an effort to raise awareness about the plight of
more than 20 million refugees.
The pro bono campaign created by ad agency BBDO Toronto, in partnership
with the UNHCR, is being distributed to a dozen countries, including Austria,
Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Serbia, Kosovo,
Switzerland, Tanzania and the United Kingdom. The creative focuses on
highlighting the refugee experience by showing what it may be like to be
without shelter, food and water.
The 30-second television spot features an animated sequence of a snail
being forcibly removed from its shell. The spot ends with the tagline: "If you
think this is disturbing, you should know its being done to over 20 million
people around the world." The radio ad announces an address in a well-known
Toronto neighbourhood and advises the residents of that home that they have
been displaced. The series of print ads contrast the daily living challenges
of refugees with those of Canadians. The entire series of ads can be viewed by
visiting the website at: http://www.unhcr.ca/help.
"We realize that if advertising can sell products, why not use its power
to help people understand that millions of ordinary people are caught in a
nightmare of persecution, violence and personal tragedy," said Jahanshah
Assadi, the UNHCR Representative in Canada. "These people desperately need our
help and the campaign will help to create much-needed awareness about
refugees," he added.
"We've all seen the news reports and images of refugees around the world,
but the challenge in telling their stories is that their experiences are so
far removed from our daily lives. Now imagine coming home after a long day at
work to find that all your personal possessions and the home you know have
been taken from you. This is an experience we can all relate to and we used
this as our starting point for the campaign so people could begin to
understand what refugees around the world go through on a daily basis," said
Patrick Scissons, VP, Associate Creative Director, BBDO Toronto.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, the most critical regions for
refugees around the world include the following:

1.8 million Iraqis have been displaced within Iraq, and up to two million
others have fled their country, mainly to Syria and Jordan; this represents
more than one in eight Iraqis who have been forced from their homes.

Two million people have been displaced in Sudan's Darfur region, and over
220,000 have fled to neighboring Chad, which is itself now faced with the
internal displacement of up to 120,000 of its own citizens amid growing
regional insecurity.
More than three million people have been displaced inside Colombia,
representing eight percent of the country's population as a result of the
decades-long armed conflict between irregular armed groups and government
forces. Nearly 500,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries such as
Ecuador and Venezuela.

The campaign will lead up to the internationally recognized World Refugee
Day, which is observed every year on June 20. It is a day set aside to take
notice of the world's refugees uprooted by violence and persecution, and to
offer support and assurance that they are not forgotten. The television spot
will be used as the main centerpiece to promote World Refugee Day in Belgium,
Austria, Croatia and Serbia.
The UNHCR-BBDO advertising campaign was recently honoured at the annual
Canadian Marketing Awards with five awards, including the gold, two silvers,
and one certificate in the category of Public Service Single Print/Outdoor/Out
of Home. In addition, the campaign received the prestigious Andy Rogers Award
for the highest scoring public service announcement.

About the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The UNHCR works in 116 countries to provide protection and assistance to
an estimated 21 million refugees, and other displaced and needy persons. The
UN refugee agency, which has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, was established by
the UN General Assembly in 1950 to protect refugees and resolve refugee
problems worldwide and has helped more than 50 million people over the past
five decades. For more information, visit the website at: www.unhcr.ca

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** I was really excited about this - cool that Canada is leading the campaign.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bertha Wilson, who died Saturday, wrote the Singh decision recognizing the right of refugee claimants under the Charter to fundamental justice. Refugee Rights Day, celebrated each 4 April, marks the anniversary of this decision.


April 4, 2005 marks the 20th anniversary of the Singh decision, through which the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the basic rights of refugees. The Court ruled that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the right of refugee claimants in Canada to life, liberty and security of the person, and that claimants are therefore entitled to an oral hearing, in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
http://www.web.net/~ccr/rrdayadvisory.html

To read the decision - click here