Process Claims: Refugee Claims

process claims: As of Aug. 31, the pending inventory of refugee claims is about 34,000 cases, including 29,000 claims filed after December 2012, when the then-Conservative government revamped the process by imposing statutory timelines to process claims and expedite removals of failed claimants, according to Toronto Star. The rest are so-called legacy claims that have been waiting for five years or longer for a hearing date. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board IRB the backlog has been growing at a rate of approximately 1,400 cases a month since January, with the largest increase so far in August with a sudden surge of 3,000 claims. Read more Almost 7,000 migrants have walked into Quebec since Canada Day Article Continued Below Montreal's Olympic Stadium becomes shelter as Haitian refugees from the U.S. seek home in Canada While the law requires claimants be scheduled for a hearing date in 60 days, it has provisions that allow the refugee board to get around the deadline if there are delays in border officials issuing security clearances, if there are operational limitations, or if interpreters or counsel are unavailable. As a result, many cases must wait before they can be heard by an independent decision-maker. react-empty 167 With existing resources, Pape said the IRB can process only approximately 2,000 claims a month. The current intake of claims for refugee protection is exceeding the IRB's operational capacity, which is causing a growing inventory of pending cases, said the board's spokesperson, Anna Pape. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.