Citizenship and Immigration Response to Asian Tsunami
The tragic events of December 26, 2004, in the South and South-East Asia region touched the lives of many Canadians and moved us all individually and collectively to help in every way possible.
The response of Citizenship and Immigration Canada has involved both an information campaign to ensure those affected have quick and easy access to overseas visa offices, as well as a campaign to more expeditiously bring together family members affected by the tragedy.
The Department’s Web site was updated in the days following the tragedy to provide accessible visa office contact information for travellers abroad as well as information regarding activities and priorities in each office, and contact information for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wished to sponsor immediate family members residing in a disaster area. The Web site will be updated on a daily basis as more information becomes available.
On January 1, 2005, the department posted a notice on its Web site advising that visa offices in Sri Lanka, Bangkok and Colombo are helping provide emergency assistance to Canadian citizens and their non-Canadian spouses, common-law partners and dependent children on a priority basis. They have since resumed offering all of their normal services.
The Department issued a news release on January 3, detailing the measures it was taking:
- expediting existing applications of Family Class applicants under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act who have been and continue to be seriously and personally affected by the disaster and who have immediate family members in Canada;
- waiving new application processing fees and the Right of Permanent Resident fee for persons who have been and continue to be seriously and personally affected by the disaster; and
- putting in place a special email account tsunami@cic.gc.ca and toll-free telephone number (1-800-457-5035) to respond to questions on the immigration measures announced to help Canadian citizens and permanent residents in the wake of the disaster.
Minister Sgro has made herself available to media to explain the Government’s response and specific departmental measures. She has also embarked upon consultations with affected communities across Canada to ensure that the department is providing every possible assistance.
In addition on January 5, 2005, a special email address was set up to enable interested persons to provide their suggestions to the Minister: suggestions.tsunami@cic.gc.ca.
The Department has been and will be re-deploying resources as necessary to respond to the changing needs of the emergency. Both the Minister and her officials remain committed to a humane and flexible response when natural disasters affect Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their relatives.
