The Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty (Migration DRC) examines the lived experiences of children who migrate to countries to seek work – from their perspective. The report finds a “significant gap between how children see their own experiences of migration and the way that child migrants are often represented”. See Voices of Child Migrants: A Better Understanding of How Life Is.
Related resource: The Migration DRC Child Migration Research Network, a site with research and resources on child migration, unaccompanied children and child refugee issues.
Category: Refugees
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Child migrant workers, in their own words
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'Waiting for my children' art exhibit
Settlement Arts, a new Toronto-based organization established to raise awareness and increase education on immigration and settlement issues presents their first exhibit “Waiting for My Children”, a collaboration between Curator Lisa Wyndels, Photographer Anna Hill and Editor, Sally Dundas.
From the description:There are parents in our community who are forced to wait for many years to be joined by their children, after they first arrived in Canada as immigrants or refugees.
The impact of the separation of children from parents is profound, and increasingly so as the period of waiting becomes prolonged. A period of separation of many years creates risks of children being exposed to multiple harms, including severe psychological damage. We know of instances of depression, suicide attempt, and even death. Children who arrive in Canada after years of separation from a parent are often at real risk of not integrating well, either into family or into society.The show runs from May 13-23 at 1080 Queen St. W. For more info, visit the website.
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Diversity fund, Children's Aid Foundation
Announced today the Children’s Aid Foundation, in partnership with RBC, has launched a Diversity Fund that will provide social service agencies with resources to support their work with a diverse population. Information will be made available on such topics as helping families dealing with Canadian winters and coping with trauma and post-traumatic stress for refugee families, as two examples.
Read the news release. -
Mothering and migration: (Trans)nationalism, globalization & displacement
Call for papers for a conference from the Association for Research on Mothering (ARM), as posted on the mnchp-l listserv: Mothering and Migration: (Trans)nationalisms, Globalization, and Displacment. The conference will be held February 18-20, 2010 at the University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
Submissions are welcome from scholars, students, activists, government agencies and workers, artists, mothers, and others who work or research in the area. Cross-cultural, historical and comparative work is encouraged. Topics can include (but not limited to):
Representations/images of mothers and migration and (trans)national issues; globalization of motherhood; empowering migrant mothers; reproduction and movement of mother workers; migrant and (trans)national mothers and capitalism; migrant and (trans)national mothers and activism; public policy issues.
For more information, contact the ARM at arm@yorku.ca or 416.736.2100 ext 60366. Or visit the ARM website. Abstract and bio deadline is Sept 1/09. -
Women's Refugee Commission May luncheon event, NYC
The Women’s Refugee Commission (formerly the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children) is celebrating their 20th anniversary with a luncheon honouring two extraordinary women.
Dr. Shamail Azimi, physician who returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in 2001 and who lead a team of female physicians in providing maternal and child-health care services.
Mariatu Kamara, a child refugee of Sierra Leone, now studying at the University of Toronto, who serves as the UNICEF Special Representative for Children. Mariatu is co-author of The Bite of the Mango, her memoir.The luncheon will be held Thursday May 7 at Gotham Hall, New York City. For more information, call 212.763.8590 or visit the Women’s Refugee Commission website and event page.
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April 4 is Refugee Rights Day
Related resources:
The Canadian International Development Agency “Child Refugee” webpage.
Canadian Council for Refugees “Refugee Rights Day” information, including Canada’s involvement in establishing the day, statistics on refugees in Canada, and more. -
Canadian Council on Refugees spring consultation
Canada became a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees on 4 June 1969. The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) will commemorate the 40th anniversary of this event, following their annual Spring Consultation to be held May 28-30, 2009 in Quebec City, QC.
The theme for the CCR Spring Consultation this year is “Protecting Refugees and Immigrants in Hard Times” (and includes a session on children in detention).Related resources:
Refugee Rights Day (April 4, 2009)
CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) on Child Refugees
Canadian Refugee Health Conference (Nov 24-25, 2009)
CCR Annual Status Report on Refugee and Immigrant Rights, 2008. -
Supporting GARs
First published in International Settlement Canada (INSCAN), Vol. 22, No. 3, Winter 2009 by authors Yasmine Dossal, COSTI Immigrant Services and Rebecca Hill, YMCA of Greater Toronto, Supporting Government Assisted Refugees: A Coordinated Service Delivery Model.
The paper looks at the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP), reviews the needs and gaps and proposes good practices, including the need for child care services and supports. -
Canadian refugee health conference
The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto presents the Canadian Refugee Health Conference from Nov 24-25, 2009 at the University of Toronto Conference Centre.
Conference objectives include:- closing clinical gaps in refugee health
- capacity building in refugee health
- networking and information exchange
- educating health care providers
- building partnerships with refugee stakeholders
- building advocacy for refugee and uninsured populations.
The conference, although clinical in nature, is open to everyone and the conference organizers hope to attract refugees, practitioners, advocates, academics and researchers to the event.
For more information, visit the conference website. -
Canadian Council on Refugees annual report, 2008
The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) Annual Status Report on Refugee and Immigrant Rights in Canada, 2008 addresses three items related to immigrant and refugee children’s rights and family issues:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) adopted new guidelines for officers conducting eligibility interviews with children making refugee claims, including children separated from their parent(s).
CIC responded to concerns about families kept separate by the “excluded family member” rule by intervening to reunite several families and initiating measures for internal processes. Processing times still significantly lag.
Changes to the Citizenship Act raises concerns among some about the “stateless child”: a child born abroad to Canadian parents (who were themselves born abroad to a Canadian citizen) will not be Canadian citizens.See the full report at the CCR site.