Refugees
International Refugee Program Focus Countries
Kenya: Integrated Reproductive Health Care support (including HIV/AIDS) for Sudanese, Ethiopian, Somali and other refugees living in Kakuma refugee camp in North Eastern Kenya and in Nairobi, the capital city. Our partners are the National Council of Churches of Kenya and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya ---a Kenyan refugee advocacy and human rights NGO.
Egypt: Nutrition; skills training; health care for Sudanese refugees in Cairo, Egypt. Our partners is Refuge Egypt, which is the refugee program of the Anglican Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt.
India and Sri Lanka: Health; education; human rights; advocacy; skills training support for Sri Lankan refugees in India and for internally displaced and refugee returnees in Sri Lanka. Our partner is the Organization for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR) ---a Sri Lankan refugee NGO with offices in Tamil Nadu, India and in Sri Lanka.
Palestine: Water and skills training for Palestinian refugees in Gaza and West Bank. Our partner is the Department on Service to Palestinian Refugees, DSPR, of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). This program is also supported by other churches through the KAIROS GPP program and through GPP receives CIDA funding.
Middle East regional: Support to the annual meeting of the Refugee, Migrants and Internally Displaced working group of the Middle East Council of Churches. The working group meets annually to share information on situation of refugees, migrants and internally displaced populations in the Middle East and to formulate policy and advocacy to support ministry with uprooted people in and from the region.
PWRDF is a member of
the Canadian Council for Refugees
Canadian Refugee Program Current Issues
April 2008 Updated Information:
Summary of PWRDF's Refugee Work in Canada
More Information about the PWRDF Diocesan Refugee Network
In Canada: PWRDF supports advocacy and policy work in support of refugee rights through the Canadian Council for Refugees and KAIROS. The PWRDF Refugee network advocates on behalf of refugees and coordinates refugee sponsorship in Dioceses that have agreements to sponsor refugees with the federal government.
Warehousing Of the nearly 12 million refugees in the world today, more than 7 million are warehoused, confined to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of these basic rights, in situations lasting 10 years or more. Warehousing refugees not only violates their rights but also often reduces refugees to enforced idleness, dependency, and despair. PWRDF has endorsed the following statement calling for solutions to this situation. Read the full statement at the Canadian Council for Refugees website Calling for Solutions to end the Warehousing of Refugees (pdf version)
Family Re-unification Refugees and migrant workers are often separated from children and spouses for months or years, as they face obstacles and delays to family reunification. In 2006, KAIROS collaborated with the Canadian Council for Refugees on a submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, highlighting rights violations experienced by refugees and migrants in Canada. Read more at the Canadian Council for Refugees website: Manifesto on Family Reunification (pdf version)
Safe Third Country On 29 December 2004,Canada closed the door on most refugee claimants seeking protection at the US-Canada border. Under a deal between the two countries, the United States was declared a "safe third country" for refugees. Refugee advocates are critical of this agreement. Read more at the Canadian Council for Refugees website: 10 Reasons Why Safe Third Country is a Bad Deal
Update on Safe Third Country Ruling, November 2007.
Detention Churches around the world are concerned by the increasing use of detention to control cross-border movement by asylum seekers and other migrants. See the KAIROS page on detention for links to current statements.
Who Is A Refugee?
A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country..." The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
KAIROS Refugees and Migrants Program
PWRDF is a member of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives and through KAIROS the churches work together to support refugee rights in Canada and around the world. Kairos resources and links include:
Globalization Fact Sheets - A ten-part fact sheet series on globalization and migration God's people: A People on the Move
Borderless Film - Undocumented Workers in Canada Share Their Stories. Directed by Gemini-nominated filmmaker Min Sook Lee, written by Governor General's Literary Award winner Dionne Brand and produced by KAIROS, Borderless is a 25 minute documentary poem centred around feature interviews with two undocumented workers. Media Release
More Information
Refugees and Migrants Story Gallery
Refugees and Migrants Links
