Canada often emphasizes its commitment to humanitarian principles, but recent events sow the seed of doubt: is everything as smooth as the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) claims?
Ukrainian families applying for permanent residence (PR) through a special humanitarian stream face chaos, “lost” documents, and a complete lack of clarity.
One major issue is a strange technical error causing applications to “disappear” from the IRCC’s system. We are not talking here about just one or a few cases! These stories are widely discussed in Telegram groups and are covered in the media. Applicants report that sometimes they can see their documents in the system, and sometimes they just “disappear” from that system. While the IRCC acknowledges the error, they reassure applicants that “nothing is lost.” Apparently, all these system’s glitches create many doubts among applicants.
Ironically, other programs, such as humanitarian streams for Hong Kong or residents of the Americas, continue working properly without such glitches. Ukrainian applications, however, seem to have been pushed to the back burner. Out of 23,000 applications submitted under the Ukrainian family reunification program, decisions have been made on 367 only! Impressive “speed” of processing, isn’t it?
Who is behind this? It seems that someone may be deliberately “setting priorities.” Other explanations are hard to find. With the IRCC’s recent announcements about plans to reduce overall immigration levels and limit the number of humanitarian applications, one can’t help but wonder who benefits from creating these obstacles?
Meanwhile, Ukrainian families remain in limbo. Passports and work permits are expiring, and the recent requirement for men aged 25–60 to register for military service to renew documents only adds to their anxiety. People don’t know if they are able to stay in Canada or are forced to return to a war zone.
IRCC promises that no one will be sent back to the conflict zone. While these promises sound great but the reality might be different. As the saying goes, “actions speak louder than words.” Ukrainian families can only hope that their futures won’t be lost in the maze of bureaucracy.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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