The Canadian Refugee Policy and Practice Towards Refugees from the Commonwealth of Independent States

Abstract

In the general climate created by the Cold War, the Canadian government welcomed refugees from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe with open arms. It offered generous reception to thousands of Hungarians fleeing the 1956 Soviet invasion, to Czechoslovakians escaping the repression following the 1968 Prague Spring, to Poles fearing persecution for participation in the Solidarity movement, and to Soviet Jews propelled to leave by state anti-Semitism. Shattering political reforms in the Soviet bl& countries brought about the demise of the Community Party's totalitarian rule. One of the positive outcomes was the end of the Cold War. But the Gorbachev reforms opened a new can of worms. Nationalist movements erupted throughout the region, leading to the breakup of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Only the latter has so far been spared the violence between rival ethnic groups striving to create or strengthen their nation. Several newly independent states have engaged in bloody territorial disputes and violent repression of ethnic minorities. The rise of Russian nationalism has made life precarious for Russian Jews. Millions of people have been uprooted by these conflicts, yet the reaction of the Canadian government to the political processes in the region was to cancel its special refugee policy. Prior to September 1990, most refugees from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe came as members of the Designated Class. The 1976 Immigration Act allows for two categ~ries of refugees to be admitted to Canada. Convention refugees are those who fall under the definition set out by the 1951 UN