immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Rocco Galati: Roma

Federal Government Dept: Otherwise, the court would probably be inundated with hundreds of individual cases on similar allegations, said lawyer Rocco Galati, who represents 16 Roma asylum seekers and has 15 similar complaints against the federal government in the queue, according to The Star. Their lawsuits stem from Kenney s public comments describing the Roma as bogus refugees, the foreign affairs department s imposition of visitor visas on people visiting from the Czech Republic, and a country report produced by the refugee board in 2009 justifying refusal based on the argument that there is state protection available to the Roma in the Czech Republic and a class action would be more efficient in dealing with a slew of lawsuits by Czech Roma refugees against Ottawa for institutional bias, the federal court was told Monday. On Monday, the Roma refugees asked Justice James Russell to certify their lawsuit as a class action against the federal government, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and former Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.