This story was originally Appear in canada national observer and is climate desk Cooperation.
As drought, deteriorating farmland and rising sea levels drive people out of their homes around the world, advocates in Canada are calling on the federal government to support those displaced by the climate crisis.
In August, the Canadian Climate Action Network (CAN-Rac), a group of more than 100 environmental groups across the country, sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Sean Fraser asking them to grant permanent residence to all 1.7 million immigrants right. Canada, including 500,000 undocumented immigrants. Caroline Brouillette, CAN-Rac National Policy Manager, explains that this “regularization” process is key to climate justice.
“Tackling the climate crisis isn’t just about reducing our emissions, it’s about how we care for each other – that’s why we’re asking for it,” she said.
Syed Husan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Coalition for Change (MWAC), who partnered with CAN-Rac to send the letter, said climate change is already a factor in people immigrating to Canada. But while climate migrants come to the country as workers, students or refugees, they “may not even be able to describe their experiences as a result of climate change”.
He said the understanding of climate change by many immigrants was that it would lead to poverty.
“Climate change is actually closely related to economic deterioration,” Hussan explained.
Take farmers for example. Soil degradation is one of the biggest impacts of climate change, he said. Poor soil meant poor crops, forcing farmers to move to towns in search of work. But he added that many were unable to find work in larger urban centres, leaving them with no choice but to leave their home countries and seek opportunities in Canada.
In addition to crop failures, water scarcity and rising sea levels are the main drivers behind the World Bank’s forecast that by 2050, 216 million people will be forced to relocate within their countries. This estimate does not include populations in Europe, North America and the Middle East or small island developing states such as Barbados or Kiribati.
“For many, the only option is to come here on some kind of temporary permit,” Hussan said.
Many still face considerable hardship once they arrive in Canada – which is why MWAC advocates for all immigrants, including temporary foreign workers, to obtain permanent residency. “People without permanent residency or citizenship have no equal rights in Canada,” Hussan said.
A recent example is a group of Jamaican immigrant farm workers in Ontario who wrote an open letter to Jamaican Labour Minister Karl Samuda earlier last month, saying they were experiencing “systematic slavery”, working conditions Extremely poor, including overcrowded housing, exposure to dangerous pesticides and abusive employers.
Hussan said MWAC plans to present a “permanent regularization plan” to the federal government in the future, but did not specify what that would look like, saying only that it would allow “everyone in the country to have the same immigration status and the same rights. .”
Create a new migration path
Meanwhile, some groups are calling on the government to make climate change a viable reason for immigrants to gain permanent residency in Canada. Last year, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) released a report outlining several options available to the federal government.
Rachel Bryce, associate attorney at Landings Law and co-chair of CARL, said climate migrants coming to Canada as refugees are not feasible. Under Canadian law, a refugee is strictly defined as a person outside their home country who has a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, social group or political opinion.
CARL wants Canada to allow climate immigrants to gain status under protected person legislation. This applies to people who are already in Canada but do not qualify as refugees but would be at significant risk if they return to their home country.
If a person can demonstrate that their home country is no longer safe due to the effects of climate change, adding climate migrants to the protected person category will pave the way for permanent residency. Bryce said that while changes to the law would be required for specific categories of climate change for “protected persons,” it was also possible to change the Immigration and Refugee Act to allow climate migrants on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Brouillette said Canada is both one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases and one of the largest producers of fossil fuels, and has a responsibility to address the climate crisis. CAN-Rac also highlighted the importance of Canada taking action to reduce emissions.
“It’s about Canada doing its part in the global effort to limit warming to 1.5 degrees and taking responsibility for our disproportionate contribution to the crisis,” Brouillette said.
