EDMONTON, Alberta -- An unidentified male athlete at the
world track championships is seeking refugee status in Canada.
Immigration spokesman Randy Gurlock said Monday the person
approached a tournament official on Sunday about seeking refugee
status. Under a procedure worked out before the championships, the
person was directed to Edmonton police, who contacted immigration
officials, Gurlock said.
Due to privacy rules, Gurlock was unable to provide any details
about the claimant, including the name, origin, occupation or
gender. An Edmonton police sergeant said Sunday the claimant was a
male athlete.
"We provided him with a bit of sanctuary until we got in touch
with immigration," Sgt. Jeff Anderson said.
In 1994, 13 athletes asked to stay during the Commonwealth Games
in Victoria, British Columbia. Last month at the Francophone Games
in Hull, Quebec, scores of participants applied for refugee status,
similar to asylum in the United States.
No names were released, and how many were coaches or athletes
remains unknown.
Gurlock said the privacy rules protect applicants who might face
problems for making the refugee claim.
Canada adheres to the U.N. convention on refugees in deciding
such cases, requiring a "well-founded fear of persecution" based
on race, nationality, religion, political belief or social
affiliation, Gurlock said.
"It has to be a well-founded fear of persecution," he said.
"Economic migrants would not meet the definition."
A separate body from the federal immigration department, the
Immigration and Refugee Board, decides refugee claims in a process
that usually takes 10 months.
People claiming refugee status are allowed to remain in Canada,
with the immigration department working with social welfare groups
to determine their needs and provide assistance, IRB spokeswoman
Stephanie Kirkland said Monday.
Canada received 34,274 refugee claims in 2000, and another
18,090 in the first six months of this year, Kirkland said. The IRB
ruled in 15,437 cases from January to June, with 7,725 -- just over
50 percent -- gaining approval, she said.
Canada is known for a liberal immigration policy, accepting more
than 200,000 immigrants a year in a nation of 30 million people.
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