filippo grandi: Malnutrition rates among refugees are alarming, according to Metro News. The World Food Program told us yesterday that the food pipeline here in Uganda will dry up soon. Disturbing shortfalls are emerging in critical areas such as food, shelter and education, Filippo Grandi told a global summit seeking 8 billion for the crisis over the next four years. Friday's summit brought pledges of 358 million, far short of the goal. Most have arrived in the past year. The East African nation now hosts 950,000 people from South Sudan. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gender identity: Canada enacts protections for transgender community Transgender Canadians should 'feel free and safe' under new bill Many of us, regardless if we were born here or came here later in life, feel a sense of citizenship and engagement in the world around us that we simply didn't have before, she added, according to CBC. The Trans March kicks off a weekend of parades that have deeply political roots. Bill C-16 ... finally gives equal rights to people on the basis of their gender identity, trans writer and performer Nicki Ward told CBC News. Michael Cole/CBC I'm still trying to figure out what that means, to be actually a full citizen of this amazing country. It will be a hate crime target someone for being transgender. The bill updates the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to include the terms gender identity and gender expression. '969590339795', 'playlist Selector' 'container Selector' ' container24945328', 'ciid' 'caffeine14165519' ; New protections for trans Canadians6 13 The legislation also makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression and extends hate speech laws to include the two terms. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gibran bassil: Some 1.5 million Syrian refugees who fled their country's conflict are believed to be living in Lebanon, equal to about a third of the Mediterranean country's population of 4.5 million people, according to Metro News. Bassil described the presence of refugees as an existential threat to Lebanon calling for a swift return of refugees to their country. Foreign Minister Wang Yi made his comments in Beirut during a news conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Gibran Bassil. Wang said that China has given Beirut aid in the past and we will continue to give such assistance to Lebanon in accordance with Lebanon's needs. As the situation improves in Syria it is natural that the refugees begin to return to their country. There should be a roadmap for a solution in Syria and for that all parties should put the interest of the Syrian state and people first, Wang said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

lawyer: The justices sided with South Korean native Jae Lee, who has lived most of his life in the United States, according to Metro News. Lee pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2009 after his lawyer mistakenly assured him he would not be deported. But what if the lawyer is wrong, and deportation is certain The Supreme Court ruled 6-2 Friday that immigrants in those circumstances can have a second chance in court and risk going to trial, even if the prosecution's case is very strong. In fact, Lee, who had been living in the Memphis, Tennessee, area, pleaded guilty to the kind of serious crime that makes deportation near-automatic for noncitizens. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court that Lee can withdraw the guilty plea on drug charges that his lawyer advised him to enter. He was sentenced to a year in prison, but has been behind bars for 7 1/2 years while fighting to withdraw his plea and take his chances at trial, John Bursch, Lee's Supreme Court lawyer, said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

news story: Does the same moral logic apply to countries Purported Russian meddling in U.S., French and other elections has received significant attention recently, according to Rabble. Russian meddling abroad underscores need for electoral reform in Canada declared a rabble.ca headline this week while CBC noted Russian attempts to infiltrate U.S. election systems found in 21 states officials. Either you change tact or you got what you deserved. An earlier Globe and Mail headline stated Russia was warned against U.S. election meddling ex-CIA head, while a Global News story noted Canada should worry about Russian interference in elections former CSIS head. But, how can one take the outrage seriously when the media commentators who complain about Russia ignore clear-cut Canadian meddling elsewhere and the decades-long history of U.S. interference in other countries' elections around the world, including in Canada. Interference in another country's election is an act of aggression and should not happen in a just world so these accusations deserve to be aired and investigated. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

road-rage incident: Hassanen was targeted because of her religion she was wearing a hijab and an abaya, according to Globe and Mail. The crime came less than a day before a man drove his van into a group of congregants outside a London mosque, and mere weeks after a white supremacist in Portland was accused of stabbing to death two men who intervened as he harassed a woman in a hijab on a train. And it raised tension over how to characterize it Police insist the murder was a road-rage incident, while many in the community say Ms. It's a hate crime, Abas Sherif, 39, a relative of Ms. This bunch of Muslim girls, wearing traditional Muslim clothes, are not the only people on the street. Hassanen's by marriage, said on Wednesday morning as he sat outside her home, a brick walk-up apartment building. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

supreme court: Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump's nominee who was confirmed in April, is taking part in the highest-profile issue yet in his three months on the court, according to Globe and Mail. The case is at the Supreme Court because two federal appellate courts have ruled against the Trump travel policy, which would impose a 90-day pause in travel from citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It takes five votes to reinstate the ban, but only four to set the case for argument. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the ban was rooted in religious animus toward Muslims and pointed to Trump's campaign promise to impose a ban on Muslims entering the country as well as tweets and remarks he has made since becoming president. That court also put a hold on separate aspects of the policy that would keep all refugees out of the United States for 120 days and cut by more than half, from 110,000 to 50,000, the cap on refugees in the current government spending year that ends Sept. 30. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the travel policy does not comply with federal immigration law, including a prohibition on nationality-based discrimination. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

toronto star: She's a senior manager with Evergreen, a non-profit environmental sustainability agency, and she describes herself as a good saver, according to Toronto Star. But she can't imagine ferreting away the cash to buy a home at least not in the foreseeable future. German shares a house downtown with three roommates. She told the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Tuesday that it's time for her cohort to speak out, to turn frustration and anger into action. But that is changing, say planners and social policy experts. In terms of . . . advocacy, we're not pulling our weight, she later said to the Toronto Star. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

waterloo region: K-W Multicultural Festival website Guelph Wellington Local Food Fest 11 00 a.m. - 4 00 p.m., Sunday, June 25 Ignatius Jesuit Centre, 5420 Hwy 6 North, Guelph Eat your way through the many yummy things Wellington county has to offer this Sunday at the Guelph Wellington Local Food feast, according to CBC. There are activities for kids, a farmers' market, workshops where you can learn about pork butchery and how to make butter, and live music. Below, a performance from last year's festival, featuring Saboor Tabish, presented by the Afghan Association of Waterloo Region. Taste Real website event listing Franco-f te 1 00 -8 00 p.m., Saturday, June 24 13h 20h, samedi le 24 juin Club Sava, 50 Scheifele Place, Breslau June 24 is Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, which is also known as Quebec's national holiday, as well as a celebration day for francophone communities across the country. There's music, dancing, activities for children, food and more. Celebrate here in Waterloo Region with L'association des francophones de Kitchener-Waterloo in Breslau. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

yugoslavia breaks: Two snakes, according to Globe and Mail. Two narrators In 1980, a young Kosavar-Albanian girl, Emine, is engaged to the handsome Bajram, but their marriage is no fairy tale. This doubling another bridge, another river informs My Cat Yugoslavia, Pajtim Statovci's debut novel of Kosovo. Bajram proves violent just as Yugoslavia breaks apart. Gay, immigrant, Muslim his parents' dreams have no place for him and Bekim longs to not be asked where he is from. Decades later, after the family flees to Finland, their son Bekim is an outcast. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

application review: The program imposes criteria on the applications that go far beyond what Congress has authorized, including holding up some applications if the applicants donated to Muslim charities or travelled to Muslim-majority countries, the complaint alleges, according to Metro News. The program was not publicly discovered until 2012, when an immigration officer discussed it during testimony in a different lawsuit. The lawsuit claims the government since 2008 has used the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program to blacklist thousands of applications for asylum, legal permanent residency or citizenship as national security concerns. Immigrant rights advocates then filed Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to force U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to turn over more information about it, the lawsuit said. The agency doesn't have the authority to, one, impose its own requirements, and, two, impose them in a secret program on people who aren't even aware of them. Congress has laid out the requirements for these programs, Matt Adams, legal director of the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

brother luciano: As the 40th anniversary of the boy's death approaches, academics and advocates are meeting this week to share how it changed Toronto a ripple effect that touched sex workers, the LGBT community and the landscape of Yonge Street itself, according to CBC. The shoeshine boy A familiar face at Yonge and Dundas streets, Emanuel was often seen there shining the shoes of passersby with his brother Luciano. That all changed in the summer of 1977, following the brutal sexual assault and murder of 12-year-old shoeshine boy Emanuel Jaques. The brothers used their collective earnings to help their parents support them and the five siblings with whom they'd left Portugal 3 years earlier. Instead, Betesh, Robert Kribs and Joseph Woods were involved in tying Emanuel up, sexually assaulting him and then drowning him in a sink at Charlie's Angels massage parlour, according to evidence presented in court in the winter of 1978. Emanuel thought he could earn a little more on July 28, 1977, when Saul David Betesh offered him 35 to move photography equipment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

geo group: They are challenging it in federal court and have won the right to sue the Denver-area detention centre 's operator on behalf of an estimated 60,000 people held there over a decade, according to Metro News. The former detainees allege the GEO Group is exploiting people in the 1,500-bed centre to keep it operating with just one full-time janitor. Some also volunteer to do jobs as varied as landscaping, more cleaning and cutting other inmates' hair, but the pay is always the same 1 a day.A group of former detainees says the system borders on modern-day slavery. The company reported 2.2 billion in revenue and had nearly 163 million in adjusted net income last year. Immigration detention centres are roughly the equivalent of jails in the criminal justice system places where people accused of civil violations of immigration law wait until their cases are resolved. The case could have broad consequences for the private prison industry, which hopes to cash in on demand for more detention space as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration minister: The changes are not a complete overhaul of the stringent citizenship regimen established by the Conservative government in 2014, though they relax the age requirement for language and knowledge tests, and the length of residency requirement, according to Toronto Star. While citizenship officers will keep their powers to strip citizenship from new Canadians in cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and individuals convicted of crimes will be barred from being granted citizenship, the Federal Court, instead of the immigration minister, will be the decision-maker in all revocation cases. Mathew McCarthy / Waterloo Region Record file photo By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Thu., June 22, 2017 Ottawa has passed citizenship changes that critics say strike the right balance between removing barriers for immigrants to become full Canadians and protecting the integrity of the system. The Liberals also immediately repealed a law put in place their Tory predecessor that gave Ottawa the power to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens for crimes committed after citizenship has already been granted something critics said created two distinct classes of citizens, those born here and abroad. The government has followed through on its promise to restore citizenship equality for all Canadians. We are thrilled that after more than three years of fighting, multiple lawsuits, and over a year of wrangling in Parliament, second-class citizenship has been put to an end, said Josh Paterson of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration rules: He said his administration would be putting in legislation to that effect very shortly, according to CTV. It is unclear, however, how Trump's proposal would change the current situation. Trump said at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that the time has come for new immigration rules that would require those seeking admission to the country to be able to support themselves financially and would bar the use of welfare for a period of at least five years. U.S. immigration law already bars most foreigners who enter the country on immigrant visas from being eligible for federal benefits like Social Security and food stamps for the first five years. Foreigners with non-immigrant visas and those who don't have legal status are generally prohibited from those benefits altogether. States typically have the authority to determine eligibility for local programs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

indian food: Only at my house, we just called it food, according to Toronto Star. Fast forward a generation, and my children's culinary experience is completely different to my own. Bernard Weil / Toronto Star file photo By Uzma Jalaluddin Special to the Star Thu., June 22, 2017 I grew up eating Indian food. The Indian staples my husband and I grew up with are the exception in our household, not the norm.I started thinking about this because it's Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and spiritual reset. My kids are fasting a few days, mostly on weekends, and our experiences are completely different. The fasts are long more than 17 hours in Toronto which leaves me with a lot of time to contemplate meals. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

liberties union: The lawsuit claims the government since 2008 has used the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program to blacklist thousands of applications for asylum, legal permanent residency or citizenship as national security concerns, according to CTV. The program imposes criteria on the applications that go far beyond what Congress has authorized, including holding up some applications if the applicants donated to Muslim charities or travelled to Muslim-majority countries, the complaint alleges. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle on Wednesday denied the Justice Department's request to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed in February by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. The program was not publicly discovered until 2012, when an immigration officer discussed it during testimony in a different lawsuit. Congress has laid out the requirements for these programs, Matt Adams, legal director of the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said Thursday. Immigrant rights advocates then filed Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to force U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to turn over more information about it, the lawsuit said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

re-affirmation ceremony: Larry Gravill, recipient of Order of Canada and local citizenship judge, will kick off the festival as he leads a re-affirmation ceremony, according to CBC. This gives people who were born in Canada or became Canadian citizens an opportunity to affirm their commitment to Canada. In celebration of the festival's 50 years, there will be several new things happening this weekend at Victoria Park. When someone becomes a citizen, they need to take an oath, said Lucia Harrison, CEO of the Multicultural Centre in Kitchener. Also new this year will be new interactive kids activities put together by the Kitchener Public Library and the Waterloo Public Library at the kid's tent. This is really exciting because many Canadian born have never done that. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

saint john: At only 19-years-old, Mohammd Younes fled Syria on his own before moving to Canada, according to CTV. When I first came, I didn't know English, says Younes. Thousands of refugees have settled in the Maritimes in the last 18 months, but many of the newcomers still face the major hurdle of being reunited with their families. When I go out and buy something, it's still hard for me. The city welcomed 50 Syrian families in early 2016. Younes fixes bicycles at the Crescent Valley Resource Centre in Saint John. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sunningdale road: Zhou pleaded guilty in May to impaired driving after he went through a red light at Richmond Street, travelling 188 kilometres an hour, before slamming into a car near Sunningdale Road, according to CBC. His alcohol levels showed more than double the legal limit. My words cannot describe how sorry I am, Jinghao Zhou addressed the family of Gloria Chivers, who died in the crash, Thursday through a Mandarin interpreter. Chivers, 60, was killed as she worked to deliver copies of The London Free Press. He wrote that the sudden death of his wife has brought him untold grief. Family speaks Chivers's husband Chris Chivers delivered a victim-impact statement through Crown attorney George Christakos. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

algonquin-anishinabeg nation: German Ambassador Werner Wnendt says the gesture is to remind everybody who is visiting us and there are many people, of course that this is where we are, according to CBC. This is the territory of the Algonquin people. The flags of the Algonquin-Anishinabeg Nation and the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan were installed in a special ceremony Tuesday evening, and are now a permanent fixture inside the Rockcliffe residence. Wnendt was inspired to honour area First Nations as he became familiar with their history and culture after he arrived in Canada to take his post as ambassador. CBC I came to Canada, to this great country with its multicultural population, around five years ago, and have been reaching out that's what an ambassador does, of course to people, Wnendt told host Hallie Cotnam on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Wednesday. Werner Wnendt is Germany's ambassador to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

american ties: And yet another described his harrowing trip from El Salvador with a smuggler who kept a pistol on his car's dashboard, just in case, according to Metro News. Not exactly the stories of typical sixth-graders. Another told how he finally left that country after he was hit in the leg by a stray bullet from a police gunfight. But this bilingual class on Long Island is hardly typical, made up almost entirely of 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds who fled street gangs in their native Central America only to wind up in a suburb that's now caught in the grip of violence from a street gang with Central American ties, MS-13. Some of the kids came as recently as October with a brother, sister or cousin, while others came with a parent. When I look back at how much I have suffered, I realize that challenges make you stronger, wrote Jocsan Hernandez, the boy struck by the stray bullet, who was among more than 20 students at East Middle School who have contributed stories to a class book titled Luchando por un mejor futuro Fighting for a Better Future . The 88-page book, handwritten in Spanish and illustrated with colorful drawings, was an end-of-year project that grew out of a classroom discussion about the students' experiences back in Central America, their immigration journeys and hopes for a better life in the United States. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

computer science: He made his way to Vancouver on the advice of a friend, according to CBC. Sabry said it was a desperate time, but things started looking up when he signed up for a coding class at the University of British Columbia. He fled his home country of Egypt during the political unrest of the Arab Spring in 2013. Vancouver app aims to connect refugees with needed services It was a stressful time in my life. UBC had a program that was trying to give people who are slightly older a crash course into computer science and they try to connect you with job and employment opportunities. I remember having to make enough money to pay for rent and school he told CBC's On The Coast on World Refugee Day. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fever pitch: You're telling me there's not one white doctor in this whole entire building I'm not going there with all those Paki doctors, according to Toronto Star. It's tough reading these statements. YOUTUBE By Adam Kassam Wed., June 21, 2017 I'd like to see a white doctor. Even harder watching it. At first blush, one might think that this scene unfolds in a place where fear and xenophobia have reached a fever pitch. I can only imagine what one must feel in the moment being on the receiving end of such racist vitriol. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

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.