TORONTO — Canada is establishing a dedicated refugee stream for “human rights defenders,” including journalists, who may need to seek asylum to escape persecution in their country, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino said on Friday.

“The new stream will include anyone facing persecution for advocating or defending human rights with a special emphasis on journalists, women and advocates for LGBTQ and two-spirit people.” https://t.co/RsCg2eH9jB

— Marco Mendicino (@marcomendicino) July 16, 2021

The stream – the first of its kind in the world, according to the UN refugee agency – will accommodate 250 people a year, plus their families, and focus on people at heightened risk, such as women, journalists and LGBTQ2 rights advocates.

“We must not overlook those who bear witness to these human tragedies, who are active through demonstration and reporting so the rest of us can be informed. But in doing so they risk persecution, arrest, torture and even death,” he told reporters in a virtual news conference from Toronto.

One example a spokesperson gave of a person eligible under this program is an activist against the regime in Belarus who had fled to Poland but needed permanent refuge.

Canada aims to resettle 36,000 refugees this year, almost four times its total of 9,200 resettled in 2020. But by the end of April, only 1,630 resettled refugees had arrived in Canada, according to government figures.

“The pandemic has continued to challenge us to have those corridors open,” Mendicino said.

Last month Canada said it would nearly double its intake of “protected persons” this year, with a new target of 45,000 up from 23,500. “Protected persons” are defined as people who have applied for and been granted refugee status after arriving in the country, as well as their immediate families abroad.

“Often at great personal risk, human rights defenders hold the perpetrators of human rights violations to account and shine a light on stories that otherwise go untold. Through this new refugee stream, the Government of Canada stands with human rights defenders by offering them protection and a safe home in the face of real dangers, because offering refuge to the world’s most vulnerable speaks to who we are as Canadians.” 

 – The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

“Front Line Defenders welcomes the launch of a dedicated Canadian refugee stream for human rights defenders at risk and we commend the Canadian government on its leadership in this area. The vast majority of human rights defenders seek to find ways to continue doing their critical work inside their countries. However, in some extremely dangerous situations, human rights defenders are forced to flee their countries and seek asylum for safety. These defenders face unique protection challenges and this new initiative will hopefully serve as a lifeline for some of these courageous individuals who have risked everything for their peaceful human rights work.”

– Andrew Anderson, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders

“We all need to support human rights defenders to exercise their right to defend rights in their communities, but we also owe them practical protection in those dire situations when they cannot return to their countries. The ability to provide safe resettlement options with the support of Canada is excellent news for ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism, and we are looking forward to our partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.” 

– Gerald Staberock, Chair of the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu and Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture

• Human rights defenders are people who, individually or in association with others, nonviolently promote or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national or international levels.
• Human rights defenders face persecution at the hands of both state and non-state actors, including arbitrary arrest, detention, threats, torture, enforced disappearance and assassination.
• In 2019, Canada launched new guidelines on supporting human rights defenders called “Voices at Risk.”
• As part of the 2020–2022 Immigration Levels Plan, 250 additional government-assisted refugee spaces were added, beginning in 2021, to support admissions under this stream.