GYPSIES IN CANADA: THE PROMISED LAND? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduction | ||||||||||||||||||||||
On August 6, 1997, a television documentary with implications for Canada
aired in the Czech Republic. The program suggested that for refugees, entering
Canada was not difficult, and that, in fact, assisted settlement costs,
such as housing and access to employment, would be offered. The documentary
was specifically aimed at the Gypsies living in the Czech Republic, an ethnic
minority that prefers to be known as Roma. The Roma claim they are subject to institutional discrimination in the
Czech Republic. Indeed, many are without citizenship, as a result of the
division of Czechoslovakia into two nations in 1993, four years after the
fall of the communist regime. The Roma also cite racially motivated acts
of violence directed toward them as reasons for wanting to emigrate. In
addition, they are a people economically displaced in the Czech Republic.
Many Roma in the Czech Republic are unemployed, uneducated, and live in
crowded, cheap housing. In a nation with an unemployment rate of four per
cent, over 70 per cent of Czech Roma are unemployed. The majority of Roma
children are educated in schools for the mentally handicapped, which effectively
prevents them from continuing their education at the post-secondary level. After watching the television documentary, many Czech Roma spent all
their savings to come to Canada. They began arriving in Canada in great
numbers, and upon arrival they claimed refugee status. Canadian immigration
officials were overwhelmed with the sudden demand. The new arrivals were
put up in shelters, but soon the space available as emergency shelter for
the municipality of Toronto, the city to which the majority of them arrived,
was filled. The numbers of Roma arriving in Canada in 1997 represented a
significant increase over the previous year, in which 189 Czechs entered
Canada to claim refugee status. (Only nationality is recorded by Immigration
Canada, as opposed to ethnic group.) In 1997, however, 1285 people in total
from the Czech Republic arrived and claimed refugee status. Half of those
arrived in August and September, immediately after the broadcast of the
documentary. One reason Roma were able to come to Canada without difficulty was the
lack of a visa requirement for Czech citizens to this country. This requirement
had been lifted by the Canadian government in April 1996. However, with
the sudden arrival of so many Roma claiming refugee status, the Canadian
government reinstated the visa requirement for all arrivals from
the Czech Republic, on October 8, 1997, in an effort to curb the flow of
refugees. In 1996, Canada granted refugee status, and therefore permanent residency,
to more than Some Canadians felt the government was too quick to react when it reinstated the visa requirement. Others felt it was necessary to regulate such a sudden and unexpected increase in refugee claims to avoid an abuse of the system. The Roma who have arrived in Canada express surprise and shock at the welcome they have received. It wasnt quite the open arms they had been led to expect. Some of them have returned home, but others remain to wait out the processing of their refugee claims. Migration is never an easy choice, but sometimes it is the only choice. In all likelihood, these Roma made what they thought was their only choice.
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GYPSIES IN CANADA: THE PROMISED LAND? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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