On March 24th/2022, the Canadian Ministry of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship responded the petition e-3638, by clarifying that atheists and apostates may apply for the Less Complex Claims process for refugee status.
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled
Whereas: · Non-believers are persecuted in several countries, both by government and the public; · Persecution of non-believers can result in serious injury, imprisonment, or death at the hands of family members, street mobs, or governments; · Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, wrongly label all non-believers as terrorists and this alone should not disqualify them for refugee status; · The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled several times that Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom from religion as much as the right to freedom of religion, a standard which Canada should apply to refugees as well as citizens; and · Non-believing refugee claimants for refugee status through the Less Complex Claims policy would be qualified by such international organizations as Humanists International, and Atheist Alliance International, both of which have Special Consultative Status at the United Nations, and Participatory Status at the Council of Europe. We, the undersigned, citizens or residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to clarify the status of the Less Complex Claims policy, and to ensure that non-believers are included in the list of people eligible for any special refugee status so that they will be treated equally with those people belonging to the religions which are listed in the Less Complex Claims policy.
Response by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Marie-France Lalonde, M.P.
The Task Force for Less Complex Claims (TFLCC) was established in 2018 by the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) as an innovative case management approach to increase productivity and efficiency of decision-making.
The TFLCC is a streamlined case management process for certain country and claim types, which allows for certain claims to be reviewed and decided without holding a hearing, or to proceed with a short hearing if only one or two issues need to be resolved.
Decisions to include a particular country of origin or type of claim under the TFLCC process are based on several assessments, including conditions relating to human rights, political activity, and legal systems.
If there are more complicated questions of credibility or identity, then such cases will proceed to a regular hearing.
Any claim that appears to be manifestly founded upon initial review may be considered for processing without a hearing or with only a short-hearing process. This may include claims from individuals who are members of a religion as well as claims from those who have chosen to be disassociated from a religious denomination or community, or those who hold no religious conviction, including non-believers.
In addition, counsel and claimants have the ability to identify claims they believe should be considered for triage as part of the TFLCC.
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