Refugee Info
In 2006, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported 9.9 million refugees world wide. The UNHCR also reported 12.8 million IDPs (internally displaced persons, ie. refugees who have not left their country but who are fleeing their normal residence) for 2006. Along with smaller categories for stateless persons, returned IDPs, asylum seekers, etc., the total number of persons of concern for the UNHCR in 2006 was 32.9 million.
In 2005, Canada accepted for resettlement 10,400 refugees out of the worldwide acceptance total of 80,796.
Some Definitions:
Immigrants
People who choose to come to Canada for a variety of reasons. They apply through Canadian government programs designed to attract immigrants.
Refugees
People forced to leave their home country to seek safety in another country. Their home country is not able, or is not willing to protect their human rights, and therefore the refugee must ask for help from another country. Refugees do not want to leave their home, but they must to protect their lives. There are two types of refugees: sponsored and claimants.
Sponsored Refugees
1. Government-assisted refugees-those refugees who are selected by the Canadian government to be resettled in Canada, and who will receive a year’s support from the government upon arrival.
2. Privately sponsored refugees those refugees who are sponsored by private groups like faith communities, ethnic associations, unions, or any other groups that decide to help refugee families resettle in Canada.
Refugee claimants
People who have left their own country, reached another country and entered an application for asylum, or, in other words, have applied for refugee status. For more information, see Who is Helped, First Year and Claim Process. The Canadian Council for Refugees recently published a report entitled The State of Refugees in Canada 2008. Click on the title to download this report.