War in Ukraine | Canada must lift visas, immigration lawyers demand

(Ottawa) The measures taken by Canada to simplify the arrival of Ukrainians in the country do not make it possible to deal with the urgency of the situation, according to the Quebec Association of Lawyers and Lawyers in Immigration Law (AQAADI ). She asks to lift the visa requirement which requires sending her passport to the Canadian embassy in Kiev, now closed.

Posted at 12:15 p.m.

Mylene Crete

Mylene Crete
The Press

“Waiving the requirement would allow these people to come here, to be safe in Canada while their application [d’immigration] is being studied,” explained AQAADI President Stéphanie Valois in an interview.

The government has indicated that it will urgently process applications for new passports, travel documents and those of permanent residents who are currently in Ukraine and want to return here. Immigration applications from people living in Ukraine will also be given priority. A telephone line has been created to answer their questions.

“We gave as an example applications for citizenship for adoption, applications for family reunification, work permits which have already been submitted, but in fact for us to process applications as a priority it may not be enough, affirms Mand Valois. It does not respond to the current emergency that Ukrainians are experiencing. »

“What we are asking is to lift the requirement [de visa] to allow Ukrainians to come to Canada with an electronic travel authorization, she adds. So, that is obtained on the internet. It’s much easier. The person does not need to send their passport to obtain a physical visa. »

They are more than 50,000 to have fled their country in less than 48 hours, most in Poland and Moldova, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “And many more are heading towards its borders,” he wrote on Twitter.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is due to provide an update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser will be there, as will Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, National Defense Minister Anita Anand and International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in the NATO leaders’ meeting on Friday morning to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

He had reiterated the day before that an agreement had been concluded with neighboring countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, so that Canadians and permanent residents of Canada who are in Ukraine can cross the secure border.

For about a month, some 2,000 asylum applications have been approved, revealed Nicole Giles, the assistant deputy minister of operations at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). She would not say whether a target had been set for the number of war refugees that Canada would be prepared to welcome.

Canada on Thursday imposed new sanctions against Russian elites, members of Russia’s Security Council, and ministers of defence, finance and justice in response to the attack orchestrated by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. In all, 58 people and entities are targeted.

Russian strikes intensified on Friday and targeted Kyiv, the country’s capital.

With Melanie Marquis


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