victor nyamori: It must be backed up by concrete action, he said, according to CTV. East African countries already are signatories of U.N. treaties that say refugees should be allowed to work but that has not been put into practice, he said. It is a step forward for nations like Kenya, which hosts the world's largest refugee camp and where refugees are not allowed to work, but it's not enough, said an Amnesty International expert on refugees, Victor Nyamori. Only Uganda seems to have progressive legislation to let refugees work and settle, he said. Droughts and instability already have displaced more than 2 million Somalis in recent decades, with about 900,000 sheltering in regional countries. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development summit on Somali refugees comes as Somalia again faces the threat of famine, with about half its estimated 12 million population threatened. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

violence andhow: Workshops focus on topics like the impact of racial discrimination in the workplace,addressing mental health concerns,making workplaces safe and inclusive for the GLBT community,the workplace impact of domestic violence andhow the union can support the federal inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, according to Rabble. This is a conference of conferences, where human rights are front and centre, union president Robyn Benson told the crowd in her opening address Friday. The union, which represents more than 180,000 workers, including those who work for government agencies, holds annual national conferences like this one Equality at Work for members of visible minorities, women, Aboriginal, GLBTQ or those with disabilities. She encouraged delegates to boldly bring forward concerns, telling them you own the floor and you own the stage. Attendees joined her in cries of Shame! as she described her disappointment with the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling him a racist misogynist. Benson said current events show human rights are more important now than ever. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

worker program: Government offers incentives for innovation Liberals spend on training and innovation while holding line on most taxes As part of Canada's evolving foreign labour strategy, late last year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that it was doing away with the four-year limit for temporary foreign workers in Canada, according to CBC. While eliminating this rule provides much-needed flexibility for Canadian employers who face labour shortages, this change may actually hurt some temporary foreign workers in the long run. But as the rules around foreign workers evolve, Canada risks leaving behind some potential citizens. When the four-year limit was initially brought in, the intention was to underscore the temporariness of the foreign worker program. The thinking was that if a foreign national's ability to work in Canada was limited to only four years, he or she would know that this was only a temporary arrangement and would plan to return home to work. Under the rule, temporary foreign workers who work in Canada for four years are not eligible to become temporary foreign workers again unless they are out of Canada for four additional years hence, the regulation became known as the four-in, four-out rule. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

world: But now the thugs are coming back where it all started, according to Hamilton Spectator. The democratic revolution in the Philippines in 1986 was quickly followed by the non-violent overthrow of the generals in Thailand in 1988 though they continued to intervene every few years and then by the fall of Suharto's 30-year dictatorship in Indonesia in 1998. Then the Philippines showed the rest of the world how to get rid of the dictators without violence, and its non-violent example was watched and copied around the world. By then the example had also spread through the rest of Asia democratic revolutions in Taiwan and South Korea and even an attempt at one in China . The democratic wave swept across the rest of the world too; Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in 1989-91, South Africa in 1994, a large number of Latin American and African countries in the past quarter-century, and even a brave but failed attempt at democratization in several Arab countries. But in the cradle of the non-violent revolutions, things are going backwards. More people now live in democratic countries than in dictatorships. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

years: Penn aired his early career grievances on Twitter after he stumbled onto some scripts from his younger years, according to Hamilton Spectator. He wanted to avoid having to do accents, but casting directors would insist. But in the years leading up to his breakout, he, unlike most struggling actors, faced an added layer of difficulty most roles were stereotypical parts that entailed heavy accents and broken English. Tried to convince them to let me speak without an accent & make it funny on the merits was told no he tweeted. The parts entailed cologne jokes and profuse sweating, not to mention names like Ravi Tulu Singh Shankar Ramanji. He also said that when he was asked to make his accent more authentic, it usually meant they wanted Apu, as in the immigrant Kwik-E-Mart owner from The Simpsons. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

asylum application: Attorneys said he could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as Monday, according to Metro News. Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision Friday, more than two weeks after Yee's closed-door hearing on the asylum application. Amos Yee, 18, has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has a well-founded fear of future persecution in Singapore, Cole wrote. He was accused of hurting the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians in the multiethnic city-state. Yee left Singapore with the intention of seeking asylum in the U.S. after being jailed for several weeks in 2015 and 2016. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

desire: Come join us for the Vancouver launch on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 7 PM in the Vancouver Public Library's Alice Mac Kay Room.A yellow dress with ruffles, a kind Grade 1 teacher with a last name difficult to spell, cockroaches in the bathroom these are portraits of cultural misunderstandings, bureaucratic hurdles, attempts to navigate unfamiliar landscapes, and a desire to be accepted despite differences in accent, sexuality, skin colour, or taste in food, according to Rabble. Whether home is a place they long to return, desire to create, or hope to preserve in the language of their families, each writer reveals how pieces of their history have brought them closer or farther to the feeling of belonging. In their own words, Wherever I Find Myself holds the diverse and personal stories by authors of all types of ethnicities and intersecting identities. Within these pages, the authors are both critical and grateful for being able to call Canada home. Please note This event is free and open to the public. Together their stories present a mosaic of emotions and worldviews that underline the plurality of immigrant experiences for women. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

hippie sentiment: An assault on good taste and hippie sentiment, the dirty little flick remains one of the filmmaker's most aggressively outrageous efforts and, for Canadians, the release is particularly special given that Multiple Maniacs is technically still banned from sensitive Canuck eyeballs by our ratings board, as Waters cheerfully recalls, according to Toronto Star. I submitted it to some sort of Canadian distribution centre for underground movies and then I never heard anything back. The underground comedy follows his drag-queen starlet Divine and gang of murderous misfits through a satire of volatile '60s politics and violence. Eventually I wrote a letter and got back a receipt from the Ontario censor board that said destroyed.' That's the best blurb that I've ever gotten, but it did infuriate me. We didn't get a rating this time. That's real censorship, the now 70-year-old filmmaker told the Star recently. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

jorge rivera: Others tried to enter on Jan. 12 and were given appointments for later that day, according to Metro News. The wet foot, dry foot policy sent back Cubans intercepted at sea but gave those who reached land an automatic path to legal residency. Jorge Rivera, an attorney for the immigrants, said some tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico through the port of entry in Laredo under the so-called wet foot, dry foot policy on Jan. 11 and were told to return the next day. On the afternoon of Jan. 12, President Barack Obama announced the end to the policy as a part of normalizing ties between the U.S. and Cuba. Rick Pauza, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said his agency can't comment on the administrative proceedings in any specific case but the matter has been brought to our attention, we are looking into it and will take appropriate action. We don't know if they were doing this on purpose and telling Cubans that came in the day before, in the days that led up to the change, to come on the day of the change because they already knew the Cuban immigrants weren't going to be issued permission to enter the U.S., said Rivera, who is based in Miami. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

journalism school: But the story was buried on page 19, according to Rabble. At a showing of his film the other evening at Ryerson University, Raymont asked a crowd of journalism students Do they still teach objectivity in journalism school He confessed he considers himself an activist, not a journalist. The documentary noted that, on the eve of the first Iraq war, the Washington Post ran a story debunking every rationale the U.S. government offered for attacking that country. An activist for the truth, he said. Every day in Washington, 70 of the most senior journalists in the United States dutifully sit down for a staged briefing at the White House -- stenographers writing down what they're told -- but no stories appear for weeks examining poverty or hunger among the dispossessed 99 per cent. Surely we need lots more of that in journalism today. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

laila matar: The council has taken a significant step toward accountability, Laila Matar, a U.N. advocate with Human Rights Watch, said in a statement, according to Metro News. The U.N. inquiry began a year ago to document human rights violations in South Sudan. The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday gave the commission the ability to collect and preserve evidence and point the finger at suspected perpetrators. Since then, a fragile peace agreement there has collapsed and ethnic fighting has spread. It said most of the human rights violations have been committed by South Sudan's government security forces. The commission of inquiry this month reported that South Sudan was experiencing ethnic cleansing and conditions that could lead to genocide. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

duo: The new revue is swift and clever, its comedy clicking sure like clockwork, with much of the content having to do with hopeful illusions dashed by hard realities, according to Globe and Mail. Where upbeat newlyweds are exploring their boundaries, an older couple laughs about sharing the toilet. Smugness here is not a good look, or even warranted. The jaded latter duo has sex every third Sunday, followed by Doritos and Westworld, which is the real orgasm of the occasion. Mind you, newcomer Paloma Nunez has her moments as an aunt who terrorizes a young couple with her taunts of wait till you have a baby, as a one-night-stand participant in a brilliant, wordless BBC nature-doc sketch, and as a mustached ukulele-playing Mexican immigrant who has had his heart broken by America. Second Company has been blessed with breakout stars of late laugh-out-loud moments being caused by the likes of Kirsten Rasmussen, Nigel Downer and Stacey McGunnigle but Everything is Great Again makes do finely without a breakout performer on-board. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

media reports: Rachel Dolezal said she has been unable to find steady work in the nearly two years since her background became public in media reports, and she is uncertain about her future, according to The Chronicle Herald. I was presented as a con and a fraud and a liar, Dolezal told The Associated Press this week. A white civil rights leader, fired because she led others to believe she was black, said she struggles to make a living these days because she was portrayed as a fraud. I think some of the treatment was pretty cruel. And she still has the darkened complexion and frizzy hair that allowed her for years to pass as a light-skinned black woman. Now 40, she still identifies as black, despite being Caucasian biologically, she said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

minority communities: Video footage of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by Van Dyke in October 2014 was released more than a year later, sparking protests and pushing the city into a national debate over police use of force, particularly in minority communities, according to CBC. The release of the video also led to the ouster of the police chief. Jason Van Dyke pleaded not guilty through his attorney in a Chicago courtroom to 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm that were issued by a grand jury on March 16 and unsealed on Thursday by a special prosecutor, local media reported. Van Dyke pleaded not guilty to murder in 2015 and is awaiting trial. He denied in court that he sought the new charges to correct what the defence has called errors in the initial charges, the Chicago Tribune reported. Special prosecutor Joseph McMahon did not give an explanation for the new charges on Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

page decision: Attorneys said the 18-year-old could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as Monday, according to The Chronicle Herald. Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision more than two weeks after Yee's closed-door hearing on the asylum application. Amos Yee has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has a well-founded fear of future persecution in Singapore, Cole wrote. He was accused of hurting the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians in the multiethnic city-state; Yee is an atheist. Yee left Singapore with the intention of seeking asylum in the U.S. after being jailed for several weeks in 2015 and 2016. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

school students: Rockville High School students and parents declined to comment Thursday about the case involving a 14-year-old girl and a suspect authorities say came to the U.S. illegally from Central America, according to The Chronicle Herald. One mother would only point to the sign made of red plastic cups in a ballpark fence. Outside a Maryland high school dragged into the national immigration debate by an alleged rape, a makeshift sign reflects that strain Rockville Strong. Protesters on both sides of the debate converged on a nearby elementary school earlier Thursday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The Montgomery County school system has been besieged by hundreds of racist and xenophobic calls. And the White House has weighed in, saying President Donald Trump has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a priority because of tragedies like this. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sophia tareen: Wong Maye-E / AP By Sophia Tareen The Associated Press Fri., March 24, 2017 CHICAGO A teenage blogger from Singapore whose online posts blasting his government landed in him jail was granted asylum to remain in the United States, an immigration judge in Chicago ruled Friday, according to Toronto Star. Amos Yee has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Yee has been detained by immigration officials since December when he arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Attorneys said the 18-year-old could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as Monday. Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has a well-founded fear of future persecution in Singapore, Cole wrote. Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision more than two weeks after Yee's closed-door hearing on the asylum application. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

support dimension: On the other hand, Americans tend to think of Canada as a safe haven, a refuge if all else fails -- like running away to the woods, according to Rabble. This myth is so strong, writes Jessica Squire in Building Sanctuary The Movement to Support Vietnam War Resisters in Canada 1965-73, that the support dimension of the draft-dodger story is easily dismissed; after all, part of the myth is that Canada has always been such a haven... As she describes in meticulous detail, every aspect of safe haven requires hours and hours of daily work. Americans do play a certain type of socio-political capitalist game better than most Canadians, but sometimes I think that's because that's all they're taught how to do. But again I'm stuck with an irony -- the myth persists, precisely because Canadians have so often risen to welcome refugees from wars and injustice in the States and elsewhere. Drive along the tourist route through reserves and vineyards in southern Ontario, and you'll spot dozens of bronze plaques, monuments and billboards commemorating the UELs, who immigrated to Canada during and after the American Revolution. Take the United Empire Loyalists, whose loyalty and decorum have left their mark on central Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

surrey-green: When asked if she has any regrets after 22 years of serving the people of Surrey-Green Timbers, Sue Hammell lists just one, according to CBC. I should have learned Punjabi, the NDP MLA said, while cleaning out her B.C. Legislature office for the final time in mid-March. Here is Surrey-Green Timbers, one of nine ridings in Surrey and where a name won't appear on the ballot for the first time in over 30 years. 1. When the Surrey-Green Timbers riding was created prior to the 1991 election, immigrants made up 28.5 per cent of the population, and it was just starting to become the centre of B.C.'s Indo-Canadian community. In 2011, nearly half of the population said Punjabi was their mother tongue. By 2006, half of the population were immigrants. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

tech company: The target is 1,700 immigrants per year by 2022 despite a downturn in the economy and an increase in taxes and fees provincewide, according to CBC. The announcement was held at Verafin, a tech company in St. A new strategy was launched on Friday to boost immigration to the province by roughly 50 per cent in the next five years. John's. Even in this economy you could argue because of this economy there are skillsets that are left unfulfilled and unanswered, Byrne said. The company is a leader in innovation and benefitting from skilled immigrant workers, Gerry Byrne said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

wayne watson: This is bigger than me, said Wayne Watson outside Brampton Court Friday, where seven lawyers acting pro bono gathered to argue whether the law discriminates against adult children with disabilities, according to Toronto Star. This is for the government to look at, said Watson, who has paid child support for Joshua, his estranged 22-year-old developmentally disabled son, since the boy was 4 and now wants to stop paying. Rick Madonik / Toronto Star File Photo By Laurie Monsebraaten Social justice reporter Fri., March 24, 2017 The father at the centre of a constitutional challenge of Ontario's child support law says he is stunned by the attention the case has received. This is not my fight. Lawyers acting as friends of the court on behalf of Watson said it should be up to Queen's Park and not a judge to decide if child support for disabled children of unmarried parents should continue into adulthood. I'm caught in the middle, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

asylum application: Attorneys said the 18-year-old could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as Monday, according to Brandon Sun. Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision more than two weeks after Yee's closed-door hearing on the asylum application. Amos Yee has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has a well-founded fear of future persecution in Singapore, Cole wrote. He was accused of hurting the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians in the multiethnic city-state; Yee is an atheist. Yee left Singapore with the intention of seeking asylum in the U.S. after being jailed for several weeks in 2015 and 2016. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

media reports: I was presented as a con and a fraud and a liar, Dolezal told The Associated Press this week, according to Brandon Sun. I think some of the treatment was pretty cruel. Rachel Dolezal said she has been unable to find steady work in the nearly two years since her background became public in media reports, and she is uncertain about her future. Now 40, she still identifies as black, despite being Caucasian biologically, she said. People didn't seem able to consider that maybe both were true, she said. And she still has the darkened complexion and frizzy hair that allowed her for years to pass as a light-skinned black woman. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

plastic cups: One mother would only point to the sign made of red plastic cups in a ballpark fence, according to Brandon Sun. Protesters on both sides of the debate converged on a nearby elementary school earlier Thursday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Rockville High School students and parents declined to comment Thursday about the case involving a 14-year-old girl and a suspect authorities say came to the U.S. illegally from Central America. And the White House has weighed in, saying President Donald Trump has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a priority because of tragedies like this. In response, schools beefed up police presence in an attempt to reassure the anxious community. The Montgomery County school system has been besieged by hundreds of racist and xenophobic calls. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

american citizenship: The surprising arrest of the Jewish man, who holds dual Israeli and American citizenship, came after a trans-Atlantic investigation with the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies, according to Toronto Star. U.S. Jewish groups welcomed the breakthrough in the case, which had raised concerns of rising anti-Semitism and drawn condemnation from President Donald Trump. The Associated Press By Daniel Estrin The Associated Press Thu., March 23, 2017 JERUSALEM Israeli police on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old hacker who they said was the main suspect in a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centres in the United States, appearing to crack a case that has sent a chill through the American Jewish community. Israeli police described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear. Read more Article Continued Below As Jewish centres cope with bomb threats, graves are vandalized react-text 153 Signs sit outside the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Missouri on Feb. 22. He's the guy who was behind the JCC threats, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to the scores of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centres in the U.S. over the past two months. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

arrest raid: U.S. Jewish groups welcomed the breakthrough in the case, which had drawn condemnation from President Donald Trump, according to CTV. Israeli police described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear. The surprising arrest of the man, a hacker who holds dual Israeli and American citizenship, came after a trans-Atlantic investigation with the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies. He's the guy who was behind the JCC threats, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to the scores of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centres in the U.S. over the past two months. During the arrest raid, they said he tried to grab an officer's gun but was stopped by another officer. Police banned publication of his name, but said he was a dual citizen and would remain in custody until at least March 30. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.