441-02195 (Foreign affairs)

The Government of Canada is committed to upholding its tradition of providing protection to persecuted people, including religious minorities, including through its Refugee Resettlement Program. Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program is designed to both provide protection to the most at-risk refugees around the world, and also to provide Canadians with the opportunity to identify and sponsor refugees lacking a durable solution. Refugees can access Canada’s protection through the Government-Assisted Refugees Program, the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, or the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program. Under the Government-Assisted Refugees Program and the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program, Canada relies on trusted organizations like the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to identify refugees who are the most in need of resettlement. The UNHCR has a global mandate to identify and prioritize those most in need of resettlement on the basis of their intersectional needs. The identification of resettlement needs is part of ongoing assessments of protection gaps by the UNHCR. Refugees are identified as in need of resettlement when they are at risk in their country of refuge or have particular protection needs.

Specifically, the UNHCR identifies and refers refugees falling into one or more resettlement submission categories: Legal and/or Physical Protection Needs (this includes those who are persecuted because of their ethnicity, religious beliefs and/or sexual orientation); Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk; and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.

Refugees who may not qualify for resettlement through the UNHCR can also access protection in Canada through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, which allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to identify refugees whom they wish to sponsor for resettlement to Canada. Private sponsors refer refugees to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) who they deem to be in need of protection, while also demonstrating that they have the capacity to provide the necessary financial and non-financial supports to sponsor a refugee to Canada. Groups of Five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents, or Community Sponsor organizations, associations or corporations can apply to sponsor a refugee who is in possession of a Refugee Status Determination, issued either by UNHCR or a foreign state. Sponsorship Agreement Holders, who sign a sponsorship agreement with the Minister of IRCC, and the Constituent Groups that work with them, can apply to sponsor a refugee. The requirement for a Refugee Status Determination document does not apply to refugees sponsored by Sponsorship Agreement Holders.

IRCC recognizes that refugees in countries of asylum may face difficult conditions and strives to process cases as fast as possible. Applicants facing particularly acute risks may be eligible for expedited processing, which is extended on a case-by-case basis, in light of individual circumstances. Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program reserves space for the urgent resettlement of refugees facing immediate and imminent threats to their life, liberty or physical safety. The Urgent Protection Program ensures that Canada is able to respond to urgent requests from the UNHCR for resettlement of refugees under immediate threat. Refugees at risk, or people aware of such a case, can alert the UNHCR to the danger they face. Canada stands ready to continue to be a steadfast supporter of persecuted minorities all over the world, including through concrete means such as the resettlement of those most at risk.

Globally, Canada strongly condemns persecution and human rights violations against refugees and asylum seekers as well as faith and belief communities. Canada engages frequently with countries, including Thailand, on the rights of refugee and asylum seekers. During its second cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2016, Canada recommended that Thailand provide access to legal status for asylum seekers and refugees without discrimination, end arbitrary detention, and implement effective legal safeguards against refoulement consistent with international human rights and refugee law.  While Thailand did not accept the recommendation, Canada has continued to advocate on such issues on an ongoing basis.

Canada and other countries provided additional recommendations during Thailand’s third cycle of the UPR in November 2021. These included a recommendation to strengthen efforts to protect the rights of persons who are marginalized and most vulnerable, and encouragement for Thailand's accession to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and its optional protocol and for continued efforts to provide safe haven and assistance to those fleeing persecution. Thailand committed to continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to persons of concern in Thailand. Additionally, Thailand pledged to engage with the international community and cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to enhance the protection and assistance for refugees and asylum seekers.

Canada continues to regularly engage Thailand on human rights, including concerning migrants and refugees, and advocates around other UPR recommendations made by Canada at various levels – including frequent meetings with Thai officials and parliamentarians and by the Prime Minister during his bilateral meeting with Thailand’s Prime Minister in November 2023.

The Embassy of Canada to Thailand also continues to implement Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders to provide effective support to people who work for human rights; by helping human rights defenders to be more effective advocates, ensuring they are able to carry out their work in a safe and enabled environment, and protecting them from harm. The Guidelines contain specific practices to follow, and a dedicated annex to freedom of religion or belief human rights defenders to guide this important work.

Canada recognizes the unique challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers belonging to faith and belief communities and respects Freedom of Religion. Canada established and continues to?co-chair?the International Contact Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Co-chaired by Canada and the United States, this is a forum for government representatives to discuss ways in which they can work together to promote respect for freedom of religion or belief and to advocate for members of religious minority groups worldwide.

As part of its international engagement to date, Canada has convened a number of high-level events to promote these values.?For example, on December 15, 2022, building on past similar annual roundtables, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hosted an Interactive Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or Belief, featuring the participation of Dr. Nazila Ghanea, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and representatives from Canadian faith and belief communities. Canada has also frequently, and at high levels, responded to the persecution and suffering of religious and belief minorities, including that suffered by Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Baha’i, Yazidi, and humanist minorities in different parts of the world, to list but a few.