CANADIAN IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS NEGATIVE ON

S E C R E T OTTAWA 003695 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2105 TAGS: MOPS PREL PTER KAWC PHUM PINR CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS NEGATIVE ON RESETTLEMENT OF CERTAIN REFUGEES FROM GUANTANAMO REF: (A) OTTAWA 3656 AND PREVIOUS (B) STATE 215194 Classified By: POLITICAL M/C BRIAN FLORA. REASON 1.4 (B) AND (d). ¶1. (S) Pol Minister Counselor and polmiloff met with two Assistant Deputy Ministers (Operations and Policy) at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) on December 15, to follow up on USG's request that Canada consider resettlement of Uighurs from Guantanamo. In a cordial but candid exchange, A/DMs Janet Siddall (Operations) and Daniel Jean (Policy and Program Development) made clear that Uighurs -- both enemy combatant and non-combatant -- are ineligible for admission to Canada based on their prior association with Taliban training camps. Post will fax to L/PM excerpts provided from the relevant legislation ("An Act respecting immigration to Canada and the granting of refugee protection to persons who are displaced, persecuted or in danger", aka Bill C-11 passed June 13, 2001). ¶2. (S) Jean, whose office administers the Safe Third Agreement and bilateral MOU, said the Uighurs' basis of inadmissibility precludes use of the MOU as a vehicle for requesting that Canada accept the Uighurs. Jean drew attention to the last sentence of para 2 of the MOU which states "The selection for resettlement to Canada of persons referred by the United States shall be conducted with Canadian officials in accordance with Canadian law and policies." Jean also shared relevant segments of his transcripted 2003 testimony before the Canadian Senate's Standing Committee on Immigration in which he stated, regarding the MOU, "In the context of cases being referred from Guantanamo, the United States is not interested in referring cases that may have made the media because of their role in the context of global terorrism or things like that. These cases would be inadmissible to Canada. Those are not the cases that we would be approving." ¶3. (S) Though an individual found inadmissible under these grounds may try to "satisfy the Minister that their presence in Canada would not be detrimental to the national interest," neither of our interlocutors thought this a scenario with a likely positive outcome for Uighurs held at Guantanamo. As in the U.S., they said, the government here faces growing judicial pressure to release or charge and prosecute detainees apprehended and held without specific charges. Moreover, the volatile political environment (which is likely to endure beyond the January 23 elections) had increased public scrutiny of such cases and added to the pressure on the Ministers. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS