MIGRATION

"We're not talking about the kinds of people that are living in UN refugee camps by the millions, who are victims of war and state-sponsored persecution," Kenney told CBC. "It's an insult to the important concept of refugee protection to allow it be systematically violated by people who are overwhelmingly economic immigrants."

Canada spends about CAD$29,000 to shelter and care for a single asylum seeker. Fake refugees were adding costs in the refugee programme. "In addition to creating significant delays," Kenney said explaining his decision, "the sheer volume of these claims is undermining our ability to help people fleeing real persecution."

"All too often people who really need Canada's protection find themselves in a long line, waiting for months and sometimes years to have their claims heard," he added, expressing compassion for 'genuine refugees'.

MEXICO TOPS REFUGEE CLAIMS

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Mexico is now the No. 1 source of refugee claims, which have almost tripled to more than 9,400 since 2005. In 2008, claims from Mexican nationals made up a quarter of the total refugee claims Canada received. Only 11 per cent of those claims were accepted.

The Czech Republic is the second-highest source country for refugees. In the first half of this year, 1,720 Czech 'Romas' filed asylum applications in Canada, twice as many as in the whole of 2008.

Canada first lifted the temporary resident visa requirement on the Czech Republic in April 1996. Following the lifting, approximately 1,500 claims were made in Canada by Czech nationals. In response to this, Canada re-imposed the visa requirement in October 1997. Following the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union, and based on the positive findings of a country review, including a very low visa refusal rate, the Government of Canada lifted the visa requirement on the Czech Republic again, on October 31, 2007.

Czech nationals have filed almost 3,000 claims since October 2007, when Canada lifted the visa requirement for visitors from that country. That compares with fewer than five claims in 2006, according to CIC. 

Claimants from the Czech Republic in Canada have largely been from the Roma minority -- often referred to by the derogatory term "gypsies", who say they suffer discrimination in their home country, a claim backed by human rights groups

The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board sent researchers to the Czech Republic on a fact-finding mission on this issue from March 23 to March 31. Though authors of the report did not present any conclusions, Kenney said it supported his contention that the Roma do not face state-sponsored discrimination.

However, Paul St. Clair, executive director of the Roma Community Centre in Toronto, said while "even-handed", the report does not mention the segregation Roma children face in the Czech school system.

He also said he is concerned tribunal judges will pick and choose information from the report to justify their decisions about whether or not to accept a claimant, rather than taking the report as a whole into account. Moreover, he said, members of the immigration board were in a conflict of interest writing a report for their own department.

In addition, CIC reports that more than half of these refugee claims from Czech nationals are being withdrawn or abandoned before they are finalized, which they say, indicates that many claimants may not be genuine refugees.

The imposition of visa has evoked some understanding from Mexico, but rather sharp reactions from the Czech Republic whose senior officials are threatening retaliation, eventually with the backing of the European Union (EU).

MEXICAN RESPONSE

In a statement, the Mexican government said it regretted Canada's decision and will promote actions to modify the decision. So far, Mexico has not announced it will take any retaliatory measures.

Mexican authorities blamed the rise in bogus claims on "the unrestricted operation of intermediary groups and organizations" which charge fees to assist people in making their cases. "These organizations have encouraged this practice among Mexicans acting in good faith, charging fees for advisory, logistical and training services to then present fraudulent cases," the government statement from Mexico said.

CZECH RESPONSE

The Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, called Canada’s step unilateral, wrong and unfriendly adding he would ask the EU to help restore the visa-free status. The Czech government has meanwhile recalled its ambassador to Canada. It is also proposing to slap visa requirements on Canadian diplomats, civil servants and Canadians visiting the Czech Republic on business.

"It’s quite a normal diplomatic step that we are taking," Helena Bambasova, the Czech Republic's deputy foreign minister, told CBC. "We want to consult what steps should be taken, what reaction should be done, what can we do about that because I have to admit, we are rather disappointed by the decision of your government."

Bambasova said her government will consult with the EU, suggesting they may try to get member countries to respond similarly.

"All the 27 member countries have no visa arrangements for the Canadians and since it has been violated or Canada decided to behave otherwise to one of the conditions, a decision has to be taken. But I don’t want to foresee what that will be," Bambasova said.

EU RESPONSE

EU spokesperson Michele Cercone said the European Commission plans no immediate action, would not heed a Czech call for all EU states to impose a visa restriction on Canadians in solidarity with the Czech Republic but "regrets" Ottawa's decision and was seeking consultations with Canadian officials shortly.

"We expect the measures introduced by Canada to be temporary, and we hope that full visa free travel between the EU and Canada is re-established soon," Cercone said.

In fact, Canada already requires visas for citizens from two other European Union (EU) countries: Bulgaria and Romania.

Canada's immigration minister Kenney, who met EU officials, said, "There was no intimation whatsoever of any kind of retaliation." However, as a member of the EU, the Czech Republic can't unilaterally impose a visa requirement on Canadians, he added.

Kenney insisted that visa regulations are the norm for travel to a foreign country, a standard that is only circumvented by special agreements.

CRITICS BLAST MOVE

Immigration experts said demanding visas from all Mexicans and Czechs entering the country is not the answer because it lumps fraudulent claims with legitimate ones. "By imposing the visa system … obviously we're putting enormous obstacle in the paths of people who genuinely have a fear of persecution in their country," Joseph Allan, an immigration lawyer in Montreal told CBC.

The move will push many asylum seekers underground, Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said. "This is a good day for people smugglers. The Canadian government is giving new business to people who make money out of people's desperate need to get to a country of safety," he said.

IMPACT ON TOURISM

The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) called on the government to review the decision and at least delay any change until after the summer tourist season.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time, at the very height of the tourism season," said NDP's Bruce Hyer criticising the visa requirements also for tourists: "More than 200,000 Mexican tourists visited Canada last year, but now many will have to cancel their bookings."

Canadian tour companies said the policy change being imposed at the very last minute further threatens an already struggling industry.

Tourism industry is already 'suffering'. But putting visa restrictions on the millions of legitimate tourists and business travellers that enter Canada from the two countries is like using a blunt instrument for a precision job, critics say.

The fact that the move comes in the middle of a worldwide recession will magnify the impacts.

"What really hurts about this is that there was no warning at all," said Hume Rogers, manager of Ottawa's Capital Hotel and Suites.

Immigration minister Kenney said no prior notice was given of the new visa rule to avoid a flood of people trying to enter Canada before the change.

IMPACT ON FREE TRADE WITH THE EU

Canada is beginning free trade negotiations with the EU, and there are some concerns the visa hassle, coupled with irritants like Europe's recent decision to ban the trade of Canadian seal products, might strain the opening rounds of talks.

"This will hurt our diplomatic relations, tourism and the close ties we have built over the years with these two partners," said Liberal foreign affairs spokesperson Bob Rae. "It's not clear to me that the Harper government fully understands what a setback this will be."

Responding to criticism, Kenney said the visa rule was motivated by the "spiraling" financial cost of handling the flood of asylum claims.

It costs Canada about CAD$29,000 to shelter and care for a single asylum seeker. More than 12,000 Czech and Mexican refugee claimants have arrived in Canada since late 2007 and the vast majority of the files have been ruled to be illegitimate, making the financial toll untenable.

"We'd be upset if this were to really imperil negotiations for a simple reason. It's a cost-benefit thing. The overall value of the agreement is worth more than the loss of value on a single issue," said Jason Langrish, executive director of the Canada Europe Roundtable for Business.

IMPACT IN THE AMERICAS

The impact of the visa decision on the Conservative government's foreign policy agenda could be just as costly, threatening a proposed free trade deal with the European Union and marring a strategy of closer engagement with Latin America, observers said.

"What's troubling is that they made the announcement without thinking about the consequences," said Carlo Dade, executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, an Ottawa-based think-tank.

The message Canada sends by forcing Mexicans to obtain a visa could be more damaging because it will reverberate all the way south to the tip of Argentina, he cautioned. "We send a signal to folks in the Americas that our most important relationship, the one with which we have the most trade (in the region), the most commerce, tourists coming to Canada, that we don't care about any of this, so you kind of wonder what's important for Canada," said Dade.

He also predicted that restricting visitors from Mexico to deal with an overloaded list of asylum claims will only shift the incoming claims to another country, a trend he said happened when Ottawa put visa rules in place for visitors from countries like Chile and Costa Rica in past years.

VISA REQUIREMENTS

As per CIC regulations, visitors from the countries with visa restrictions have to satisfy visa officers that their visit to Canada will be temporary and they won't overstay their approved time. They will also need to have enough money to cover their stay, be in good health, have no criminal record and pose no security risk.

Applicants can apply for multiple-entry visas, valid for up to five years, to facilitate travel. CIC has also put measures into place for individuals who need to travel to Canada on an emergency basis.

Though the Immigration Department said it is working to increase its visa processing capacity in Mexico City, it did not rule out that the sudden imposition of the requirement might mean short-term delays in travel as resources are put in place.

Visitors from the Czech Republic will need to submit their applications to the Canadian visa office in Vienna, Austria, which currently serves citizens from several European countries.

PROBLEM IN REFUGEE LAW

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been defending the imposition of visa requirements. “This is a problem in Canadian refugee law which encourages bogus claims," he told reporters in Guadalajara, Mexico, after a 40-minute meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, before they joined U.S. President Barack Obama for the start of the two-day North American Leaders' Summit on August 9.

MPs will have to fix the busted Canadian refugee system before Ottawa can reverse its decision to slap visa requirements on Mexicans, the Prime Minister said, adding: "I hope Parliament will take advantage of the attention that's been brought on this issue to deal with this problem."

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Suresh Jaura is managing editor of South Asian Outlook, Indo-Canada Outlook and published by Globalom Media (North America), which also runs the South Asian Web TV.