thousands: Even considering South Sudan's history of ethnic hostility, the mass displacement was shocking, the report says, according to Metro News. As South Sudan faces its fourth year of civil war, the fighting shows no signs of ending. He and his family were among tens of thousands of people who escaped a wave of fighting in South Sudan's civil war, only to find themselves living in a filthy camp near the border with Sudan.A new report by Amnesty International says South Sudanese forces burned, shelled and ransacked homes between January and May, killing civilians and forcing thousands like Koolekheh from the Shilluk ethnic minority to flee. Both government and opposition forces have been accused of war crimes including mass rape and targeted killings, while the United Nations warns of ethnic violence. When government troops attacked his hometown of Wau Shilluk in January, Koolekheh grabbed his wife and three children and left. While the focus has been on ethnic tensions between the Dinka of President Salva Kiir and the Nuer of rebel leader Riek Machar, the new report highlights the threat to others caught in the crossfire. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

guatemalan family: Deportation threatens to break apart family in Edmonton Friends of the Guatemalan family in Edmonton called a press conference Tuesday in a desperate attempt to reverse the order, condemning the decision as unfair, according to CBC. Jilmar Picon Pineda thought he had applied to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, after being denied refugee status in 2011. Despite pleas for compassion, their deportation dates have been set. But he said the woman who claimed to be helping his family with their application didn't file the papers. On Tuesday, Picon Pineda signed his family's removal papers at the Canada Border Services Agency office in Edmonton. Instead, she took thousands of dollars over the course of two years before disappearing in December 2016. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

island nations: Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton said U.S. State and Homeland Security Department officials should be commended for their effective work with the Australian, Papua New Guinea and Nauru governments to fulfil a promise by President Barak Obama's administration to take up to 1,250 refugees off Australia's hands, according to Metro News. There's no delay in the process, Dutton told reporters. The refugees are among hundreds of asylum seekers mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka who have been languishing for up to four years in immigration camps on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru. It's in the final stages and I'm very pleased that hopefully as soon as possible we can get people ... off the islands. Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Dutton declined to outline any details of that process or say when the first refugees were likely to leave the islands. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

legacy claimants: All legacy claimants are being asked to immediately contact the board and make any needed updates to their applications, so the board can start scheduling their hearings for September, according to Toronto Star. Those who are ready have been asked to fill out an intention to proceed form online. There are about 5,500 so-called legacy claims filed before December 15, 2012, when the former Conservative government overhauled the asylum system by introducing statutory timelines to hear new claims and expedite removals of failed claimants leaving the old cases on the back burner. We understand how difficult it is for the people to have been waiting for a minimum of four years in the legacy backlog, said Mario Dion, chair of the refugee board. This spring the board launched a legacy task force and dedicated 3 million yearly to address the legacy backlog by hiring more than 20 retired refugee judges to focus on these drawn-out cases, the majority of them filed in 2011 and 2012. Their lives and well-being are at stake and we are committed to start scheduling these cases as soon as possible. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

racism racism: While easy to castigate such offensiveness, this vulgar display is nothing compared to the more serious aspects of racism, according to Toronto Star. Racism which breaks up families, cripples generations, keeps them impoverished and continues to have deadly consequences is structural, systemic and largely invisible except to those who experience it. Overt racism still shocks people, especially those who don't experience racism themselves. Being affronted by this instance of racism in Mississauga might signify individual decency, but does not meaningfully erase complicity with benefitting from racist structures. I wrote a column attempting to peel back another the layer of bias inherent in seeking an English-speaking doctor when those at the clinic were already speaking English. Still, this is the shockwave of the moment, and openly demanding to see a white doctor is obviously racist. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

boat people: Crafted with the aid of neuroscience research and cast with boat people or their descendants, the video tells the story of a family jumping off a sinking vessel and being warmly welcomed as they begin a new life in Montreal, according to CTV. Historica Canada President Anthony Wilson-Smith says the clip encapsulates a period and a project that helped shape Canada. The short clip, now among others highlighting key moments in Canadian History, was released by Historica Canada on Tuesday and shines a light on Canada's admission of more than 100,000 refugees fleeing war-torn Vietnam in the 1970s. He says the country is a more diverse place than it was when it celebrated its centenary in 1967, adding the Heritage Minute acknowledges that increased diversity in the leadup to celebrations of Canada's 150th birthday. The arrival of the Vietnamese boat people took place against a different cultural backdrop and exemplified Canada's approach to welcoming newcomers, he said. He says the video also serves as a reminder of the value of welcoming refugees at a time when those fleeing violence in Syria look to Canada for aid and support. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada: We have identified 1.2 million refugees who need to be resettled, according to Metro News. It's a question of survival. Jean-Nicholas Beuze, who is based in Ottawa, told a panel Monday night, ahead of World Refugee Day Tuesday, that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR recorded the highest number of refugees ever in 2016 with 22.5 million. It's not a question of getting a better life, he said. He urged Canada to consider taking more. Do you know how many will be resettled in Canada this year 9,000. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

conflict: She visited a training centre on how to prevent sexual violence in conflict and met with refugees from conflicts in Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and Congo, according to CTV. The reality is that women and girls as well as boys and men can still be raped with near-total impunity in conflict zones around the world, and there are still appalling cases of rape and mistreatment of vulnerable women, children and men by peacekeepers sent to protect them, she said. Jolie spoke in Kenya to mark World Refugee Day. Jolie added The horror of sexual violence is compounded when it is carried out by someone in uniform who has a taken an oath to protect. Not only have they had to flee extreme violence or persecution, lost everything and witnessed the death of family members, but they have also had to face so much abuse and intolerance and hardship. The way people treat refugees, the majority of who are women and children, is a measure of humanity, she said, according to a statement by the UN refugee agency. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

countries accounting: The number of refugees from the fledgling country, established six years ago, spiked by 64 per cent in the last six months of 2016 to over 1.4 million, the majority of them children, according to the refugee agency's annual global refugee trends report released Tuesday on World Refugee Day, according to Toronto Star. South Sudan, currently caught in a brutal ethnic war, is behind only Syria and Afghanistan in terms of the size of its refugee population, with people from those two countries accounting for 5.5 million and 2.5 million respectively of all refugees who left their homeland for safety. Ben Curtis / The Associated Press By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Tues., June 20, 2017 South Sudan had the world's fastest growing refugee population last year and could be the next Syria, warns a new report by the United Nations Refugee Agency. Together the three countries made up 55 per cent of the world's 65.6 million displaced people a category that includes those forced out of their homes who remain within their own country in 2016, when there were 20 new displacements every minute, said the UN report. Article Continued Below We have to do better for these people. By any measure this is an unacceptable number, and it speaks louder than ever to the need for solidarity and common purpose in preventing and resolving crises, and ensuring together that the world's refugees, internally displaced and asylum-seekers are properly protected and cared for while solutions are pursued, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said in a statement. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

countries need: But, with more than 65 million people forcibly displaced worldwide representing a new post-Second World War record -- wealthy countries need to do more to help, Beuze told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview from Ottawa, according to CTV. Canada did extremely well last year by resettling many, mainly Syrian, refugees, Beuze said Tuesday, noting that refugees have seen huge support from local communityand faith-based organizations. On World Refugee Day, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR representative Jean-Nicolas Beuze said Canada has done its fair share of resettling refugees, especially with more recent efforts to welcome Syrian refugees. Earlier this year, the UNHCR praised Canada for resettling 46,700 refugees in 2016, a record number since 1978, when the Immigration Act came into effect. But Beuze said that 1.2 million people worldwide are in immediate need of resettlement, and Canada's refugee intake target for 2017 will accommodate only a small fraction. And according to UNHCR's latest global trends report, more than 97,000 people recognized by the UN as refugees were living in Canada at the end of 2016. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

country agreement: But data obtained Tuesday by The Canadian Press shows people are still being granted asylum under the much-maligned Safe Third Country Agreement, long blamed for driving the number of border arrests to record highs, according to The Chronicle Herald. When U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban was first announced, while the NDP called for action, the prime minister tweeted, 'Hashtag Welcome To Canada,' said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan. Among other things, both the Conservatives and the NDP urged the government to examine the Canada-U.S. border, where upwards of 3,000 people have been arrested since January crossing between legal points of entry in order to claim asylum. We have recently learned that a 57-year-old woman lost her life attempting to cross the border into Manitoba. The Safe Third Country Agreement prohibits people from making an asylum claim at the U.S.-Canada land border, on the basis that those in need of protection must make the claim in the first safe country they arrive in. If the prime minister's hopeful words were matched with real action such as suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement, a life might have been saved. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

emergency aid: Most of the refugees are women and children, the reason UNICEF is calling the refugee influx a children's crisis, according to The Chronicle Herald. More than one million children have been forced from their homes in South Sudan, often amid horrific violence, said Leila Pakkala, a UNICEF official in the region. In a statement on World Refugee Day, the U.N. children's fund said the money is needed for emergency aid as well as resilience interventions targeting both refugees and host communities over the next four years. Day after day, week after week, they are being received by countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya. UNICEF in Uganda requires nearly 50 million in 2017 as well as 30 million each year from 2018 to 2020 to provide critical services, including education and child protection, to both refugees and host communities, the UNICEF statement said. Despite great efforts on many fronts, the systems in these countries are tremendously stretched. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

evening prayers: The larger Finsbury Park Mosque, which was once associated with several extremist preachers before it was shut down and reformed, is located nearby, according to Toronto Star. Nine people were injured in the attack. The attack unfolded Monday when the alleged assailant, identified by British media as 47-year-old Darren Osborne, drove a rental van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers outside a mosque in the north London neighbourhood of Finsbury Park, an area with a significant Muslim population. One man also died outside the Muslim Welfare House as evening prayers concluded for the holy month of Ramadan. She told neighbours that the van had run over his legs. Makram Ali, 51, died at the scene in his daughter's arms. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fitz gerald: There is a backlog of 45,000 people sitting with the immigration department, according to Metro News. Some are partially processed, said Fitz Gerald of Canada4Refugees, a grassroots advocacy group for the private sponsorship community. It's a demand echoed across Canada by church and community groups, some having been waiting for as many as five years to resettle their matched refugees to Canada for a safe, stable life. The government has said it's taking in 16,000 privately sponsored refugees a year and the goal was to clear the backlog by the end of 2019. At the rate things are going, we are concerned it won't happen. But new applications keep coming. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gov kate: The bill, introduced at the request of Gov, according to Metro News. Kate Brown and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, both Democrats, has sharply divided lawmakers along party lines in the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Oregon's Legislature took a step closer Tuesday to strengthening its unique sanctuary-state status, with the House passing a bill that would bar state and local agencies from asking about a person's immigration status and from disclosing information to federal officials, except in certain circumstances. The House Republican Office called it an attempt to subvert federal immigration policy. Two Latino Democratic lawmakers Teresa Alonso Leon, from the predominantly Latino community of Woodburn, and Diego Hernandez from Portland, Oregon's biggest city filed the bill on May 31, trying to counteract enhanced immigration enforcement ordered by President Donald Trump. House Democrats said it will strengthen privacy protections for vulnerable populations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

joe byrne: There's no limit for your dreams ' Syrian family finds home in P.E.I. June 20 is World Refugee Day, and walks were held in cities across Canada, according to CBC. When you hear people's stories the horror, the stress, the fear is one of the first things we hear, said Joe Byrne with the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada. Jean Elementary School and the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada marched along Charlottetown's sidewalks Tuesday to raise awareness about issues facing refugees. But when you start to listen, you also see the signs of hope, the strength, the courage, the ability to focus and keep going, It was really bad' About 800 refugees have made P.E.I. their home in recent years. Ten-year-old Joshua Gasana's family fled Uganda for Canada two years ago. We had little food and little water,' said Joshua Gasana, 10, of his family's life in Uganda before fleeing to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

bibeau: The woman was one of the four million South Sudanese who have been internally displaced because of the four-year-old civil war raging in their country, according to The Chronicle Herald. Another two million have fled the country as refugees. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recalled seeing the woman in a northern remote region of South Sudan during a four-day visit that wrapped up Monday. It's the middle of nowhere for us, she didn't even have a roof over her head, Bibeau recalled in a conference call. South Sudan has emerged as one of the newest drivers of the larger global crisis in displaced people, one that reached epic new proportions Monday when the United Nations released the latest record-breaking number quantifying the problem 65.6 million people on the planet have fled their homes. She was sleeping under a tree waiting for airdrops to feed her family. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

crash course: But four in 10 do not, and almost six in 10 believe that too many immigrants do not adopt Canadian values, according to Globe and Mail. Support for both immigration and multiculturalism which welcomes diverse cultures within the Canadian mosaic is far from universal. Preston Manning Canada's elites could use a crash course in populism Six out of 10 Canadians support the federal government's target of accepting 300,000 immigrants a year, the highest intake per capita of any country in the developed world, according to a 2016 Environics poll. Canadians, Prof. Many of us fear we may lose our job to a machine or to a foreigner in an overseas factory, even as the 1 per cent accrue more and more of the common wealth. Banting believes, are every bit as susceptible as Americans or Britons or Poles to a lethal combination of economic insecurity and cultural anxiety. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration charges: Mexican immigrants Yesenia Hernandez-Ramos and Esau Peche-Ventura were arrested Saturday and were being held on immigration charges, the Vermont Department of Corrections said.A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman told Vermont Public Radio they were stopped in a routine check a few miles away from the U.S.-Canada border, according to Metro News. The immigrant rights group Migrant Justice said they were arrested as they were returning to the farm where they work and live in Franklin County. More than two dozen protesters on Monday showed support for two immigrant dairy farmers arrested after marching to a Ben & Jerry's factory to call for better pay and living conditions on farms that provide milk to the ice cream maker. Protesters demonstrated Monday afternoon outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in St. We were there to denounce the arrest of Esau and Yesenia and to call on ICE to use their discretion to release them back to their families, back to their community so they can continue to live and work in Vermont and continue to raise their voice for their dignity and human rights, said Will Lambek, an organizer for Migrant Justice. Albans and in the morning at a correctional facility in South Burlington where Hernandez-Ramos was being held. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

joe jonas: Even though the MMVAs built their reputation on crazy antics over flashy accolades, this year lacked any sort of iconic moments that would rival Lady Gaga's flaming bustier or Avril Lavigne half-mooning the audience, according to CTV. The closest viewers got to any tantalizing content was a pot reference from Jonas as he shared his knowledge of Canadian cannabis culture shortly after the show started. The Brampton, Ont.-raised singer joined co-host Joe Jonas to set the Toronto event in motion, but everything that followed seemed especially scripted. This time next year it will be completely legal to be blem for real, Jonas said, tipping his hat to Drake lyrics that popularized the slang for getting high. He hosted eight years ago with his brothers. Jonas is familiar with working the boisterous crowd at the MMVAs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

kilometres northeast: In fact, on June 8, Pinawa hosted seven delegates from Wenzhou for a jam-packed, two-day introduction to the area, showcasing the community's natural beauty and economic opportunity, according to CBC. They very much loved Pinawa, Skinner said. The Manitoba community, 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg at the western boundary of Whiteshell Provincial Park, is home to about 1,500 people but Mayor Blair Skinner said that doesn't mean it can't relate to much larger cities like, say, Wenzhou, China home to around 10 million people. Rock 'n' Roll Fisherman' aims to get Manitobans hooked on angling Dream trips to Churchill dashed by rail shutdown The delegates were entrepreneurs with expertise on real estate, health care and the electronics industry, and they met with the Pinawa and Steinbach Chambers of Commerce, North Forge Fabrication Lab in Winnipeg and the Food Development Centre at the University of Manitoba. This is a new opportunity for them, which they were keen to explore. They're very keen to explore opportunities in the North American market, and generally they have worked in the Vancouver and Toronto area, but never in Manitoba, Skinner said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

language services: Nova Scotia had a huge influx of immigrants last year blowing previous years' stats out of the water and that included welcoming about 1,200 Syrian refugees, according to The Chronicle Herald. In response, Mills says, ISANS launched a new site to promote their expansion of language services. ISANS executive director Gerry Mills says ISANS has continued to grow after their nomination for a Now! Nova Scotia Good News Award. They've also been busy developing new employment bridging programs to support the needs of the increased number of refugees the province received in 2016. They served 4,972 clients 1,969 refugees their business development team helped immigrants open 109 new businesses, their employment services team helped 768 immigrants secure employment, and their language services team provide language training to 1,249 clients. By the numbers, ISANS has had an incredibly successful year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

letter offering: But he said a case CBC recently uncovered in Saskatchewan is the first time on record someone was caught as he put it green-handed, according to CBC. In an undercover investigation, CBC's iTeam recorded an immigration consultant offering to pay a Prince Albert, Sask., business owner cash in exchange for a letter offering a Chinese national a job. It's almost the stuff of immigration legendary myth that there are envelopes of cash being passed around for offers of employment in Canada, said the Vancouver-based lawyer and immigration policy analyst. Cash-for-jobs immigration consultant connected to Sask. government-backed Chinese megamall And it may, in fact, be part of a larger scam. According to Reid, Sui told her his immigration consulting company, Vstar International, would pay the salary and benefits of a would-be Chinese immigrant for three months of work if she simply provided a job offer. It sounds pretty sketchy and something just can't be quite legal with the whole process.'- Barb Reid, owner, Prince Albert Fabricland Last month, a man named Bill Sui dropped by Fabricland in Prince Albert and told owner Barb Reid his company was looking for Canadian jobs to offer to Chinese people wanting to immigrate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

monday morning: One elderly man died and 11 were injured in the incident which had chilling accounts from witnesses who said the attacker laughed and shouted You Muslims deserve this, according to Globe and Mail. It was the fourth terrorist attack in the last four months and the third in London involving men slamming vans into pedestrians. The latest crisis to hit the country came early Monday morning when a man drove a van into a crowd of Muslims who had just left a mosque in London after praying. And it came as the city is still recovering from a fire at the Grenfell Tower social-housing complex in west London last Wednesday, which has killed at least 79 people and called into question the actions of civic leaders who ignored repeated concerns about the building's safety for years. People are scared, said Ferhat Laichoui as he stood next to the Finsbury Mosque, one of two in the north London neighbourhood where the attack occurred. London mosque attack What we know so far about the Finsbury Park terrorism incident In photos Van rams Muslim worshippers leaving London mosque As people across the U.K. struggled to comprehend the latest terror strike, many of those living near the mosque decried the lack of national leadership and wondered why their country was lurching from crisis to crisis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

newcomer friends: Immigrants often live in the shadows of society, according to CBC. New cooking series teaches newcomers about Island ingredients'Very specific to their businesses' Newcomer Entrepreneurship Program includes industry experts A group of newcomer friends are hoping to change that, with the help of a new website created on P.E.I., which highlights immigrant success stories. Adapting to a new language, culture and even climate can be a challenge. We thought that it would be important because when people can actually see what immigrants actually go through behind the scenes they'll have a much better understanding of how life is for them, said Alkarim Bhalesha, one of the website's creators. It was launched by a group of friends who came from India to study and work in P.E.I. Gagandeep Sehgal, Vimal Ramaka, and Bhalesha all work in the IT sector. Highlighting positive stories The website, called Namaste World, is a place where immigrant success stories are being celebrated. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

peoples johnston: The better country we desire is, above all, a more inclusive one that supports, encourages and acknowledges the contributions of all peoples, including indigenous peoples, according to Globe and Mail. Johnston was presiding over a ceremony in which Gord Downie and 28 others were honoured for their work in raising awareness of indigenous issues. The Governor General prefaced his apology by saying all of Canada's inhabitants should be encouraged to create a better Canada. Downie, wearing his trademark feathered hat and weathered denim jacket, stumbled slightly and then embraced Johnston before being inducted as a member of the Order of Canada at the Rideau Hall ceremony. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among the dignitaries in attendance and applauded as indigenous activist Sylvia Maracle was named an officer of the order. The singer and social activist, diagnosed last year with an incurable form of brain cancer, was being recognized for his efforts to bring attention to the history of residential schools and to advance the cause of reconciliation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.