“On June 28, 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) came into force, replacing the old Immigration Act that had been in force since 1978. The new Act includes a number of welcome provisions requiring the best interests of the child to be taken into consideration at various points in immigration processes. In addition, the Act states that it is to be ‘construed and applied in a manner that complies with international human rights instruments to which Canada is signatory.’ [IRPA 3(3)]. The human rights instruments to be complied with obviously include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nevertheless, there are various ways in which the Act fails to address old problems that threatened the rights of children, and even creates some new problems. This report examines and illustrates some of these problems, which have attracted international attention. As will be seen, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its examination of Canada in October 2003, expressed concern about a number of areas relating to migrant and refugee children.” – Publisher’s description
