Unemployed and twice attacked in his native Czech Republic, 50-year-old Ladislav Bledy came to Canada with his family in July last year seeking asylum.
Frustrated after 15 months of waiting for his case to be heard by Canada’s refugee board, he withdrew his application — along with hundreds of fellow Roma — and is now returning to his homeland.
“I came to Canada along with my wife and three children for a better life. We all waited here for 15 long months but nothing happened,” Bledy said.
“There is no guarantee that our case will be heard in the near future,” he said, adding that he fears more assaults by “neo-Nazi skinheads” upon his return to the Czech Republic.
About 30,000 Roma live in Canada and 15,000 in Toronto. Currently, 8,000 Roma are awaiting a hearing. They include 4,000 Hungarians, 1,300 Czechs, 500 Slovaks and the rest from Romania and few other countries.
In July last year, Canada imposed visa requirements for travelers from the Czech Republic, an EU member, after a steep rise in refugee claims, particularly among Roma people.
“A large percentage of Roma refugee claimants are withdrawing their claims and going back home,” immigration lawyer Max Berger said.
More than 250 of Berger’s Czech Roma clients have withdrawn their applications, fed up with endless hearing delays and alleged political interference, and feeling hopeless after seeing other bids rejected.
Canada’s acceptance rate of Roma refugees from the Czech Republic topped 80 percent prior to last year, but it plummeted to virtually zero following a crackdown on what Ottawa said were abuses of its system.
“I find it hard to believe that the Czech Republic is an island of persecution in Europe,” Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said last year.
A Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board fact-finding mission to the Czech Republic last year did not notice any persecution of Roma.
Paul St Clair, executive director of Roma Community Centre in Toronto, sees similarities between France and Canada as far as the treatment of Roma is concerned.
“Everybody is yelling and screaming at France, but Canada is doing exactly the same thing. The difference is Canada is doing it in a legal and nicer way,” St Clair said.
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