Success stories - Yo Doh Htoo

Yo Doh Htoo: How Canada helps alleviate a global problem

August 2008

Like many of his fellow Karen refugees, Yo Doh Htoo is a rather reserved person. But when he talks about coming to Canada, an uncharacteristic smile crosses his face and he says, “I feel good. I am happy.”

Htoo spent over 10 years in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border. He was forced into the camp with his parents and two brothers when he was just 14.

“Life in the camp is very difficult,” he recalls quietly. There was little food and very limited access to medicine. But what was hardest was that the Karen, an ethnic minority originally from Burma, are not allowed to leave the camps. If they do, the Thai police may arrest and jail them.

Before their long journey to Ottawa in September 2007, Htoo and his family lived in what is known as a protracted refugee situation.

“A protracted refugee situation is one in which refugees find themselves in a long-lasting and intractable state of limbo. Their lives may not be at risk, but their basic rights and essential economic, social and psychological needs remain unfulfilled after years in exile.” United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)

Refugees in such a situation usually live in a camp or other makeshift settlement for a long time. They often live without access to some basic human rights. Diseases like tuberculosis and cholera are common in the camps, and violence and even landslides are a constant concern.

That’s why Canada, in partnership with the UNHCR, is working to help these refugees.

Processing refugees

Earlier this year, two groups of Canadian visa officers selected 1,300 ethnic Karen refugees for resettlement to Canada. They lived in camps along the Thai-Burmese border for years.

In January, the first group of five officers—Louis Dumas, Richard Anderson, Edwina O’Shea, Sylvie Pelletier and Mylène Goulet—interviewed nearly 1,000 refugees in four short days. The group was supported by UNHCR workers on the ground.

Goulet, whose day job is Research Analyst at Citizenship and Immigration's headquarters, interviewed about 53 people per day. “It’s non-stop,” she says of the pace.

She even interviewed a young mother who gave birth on the eve of her scheduled interview. The woman missed her appointment, but Goulet hiked to the makeshift thatched hut clinic during her lunch break anyway. She made sure the woman, her husband and baby were included in the group coming to Canada.

The interviews were brief but covered a lot of ground. The officers knew the people were all refugees, but there were other questions that needed to be answered. Officers must ensure that families are kept together and that people with a criminal history are not chosen to come to Canada.

Many Karen families have already been resettled to Canada through efforts like this one in 2006 and 2007. So this year, the Canadian delegations focused on family reunification.

Because they already had a connection to Canada, many of those interviewed knew where they wanted to go. A second group of visa officers interviewed another 300 Karen refugees in March.

A group effort

Normally, Canada interviews applicants on a case-by-case basis to make sure each of them meets the refugee definition according to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These types of interviews are usually long, and fewer families from each community can be processed and sent to Canada at the same time.

But if many people of the same ethnic, cultural and religious background have fled persecution in similar conditions, the UNHCR considers them to be prima facie refugees. When all members of a specific group of refugees are deemed to have the same “refugee story,” they may be processed together.

Group processing is clearly much faster since it allows Canada to quickly identify a large number of refugees who need resettlement.

The advantages go beyond speed, notes Goulet. Better integration is at the top of the list. Because the Karen arrive in cities and towns in groups, they have a built-in community, which makes navigating a foreign land easier and less stressful.

Cooperating with our partners

Canada is working with the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and partner countries to resettle groups of refugees like the Karen who have been living in camps for years or, in some cases, decades.

Of the 13,000 Karen who needed to be resettled, Canada has already welcomed over 2,600 and, counting those who were selected this winter, Canada will have resettled just over 3,900 Karen in total.

Arriving

When Htoo arrived with his wife and infant daughter in September 2007, they were welcomed at the airport by a small group of Karen who had come before them. This year, when more Karen arrive, it will be Htoo’s turn to play the host. He will work as an interpreter through the Catholic Immigration Centre and guide them on their own road to a new life in Canada.

Did you know?
Canada will welcome another group of refugees living in a protracted refugee situation. A large group of Bhutanese refugees who have been living in camps in Nepal since the early 1990s need to be resettled. Starting next year, Canada will resettle up to 5,000 Bhutanese refugees.

Over 6 million refugees are living in protracted situations.

Related Links

• Backgrounder on Karen refugees
• Backgrounder on group resettlement
• BBC’s country profile on Burma (Myanmar)
• Karen Human Rights Group
• Success Stories: A former Lost Boy helps others to find their way

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