Who are Refugee Claimants?

A Refugee claimant, also referred to as an asylum seeker, is a person who has fled their country and is asking for protection in another country. We don’t know whether a claimant is a refugee or not until their case has been decided. (CCR)

In the midst of the pandemic, refugees faced an emergency within an emergency. The number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations in 2020 rose to nearly 82.4 million people. (UNHCR) Children under 18 account for nearly half of displaced persons and new estimates show that almost one million children were born as refugees between 2018 and 2020.

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‘Refugee claimant’ is a legal term that describes a person who is awaiting refugee status determination. An individual may officially become a “refugee” once their status is determined by the Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). If a claimant is recognized as a refugee, they are granted the protection of Canada. They are then eligible to receive permanent residence status and ultimately, they can apply to become Canadian citizens.

  • The Canadian Council for Refugees published a glossary of terms when speaking about refugees.

Matthew House works with refugee claimants who ask for protection upon arrival in Canada. Compared to sponsored refugees, claimants face a multiplicity of challenges because they often do not have anyone to welcome them and there is a lack of established systems of support in place such as appropriate shelters geared towards their unique needs.

Matthew House fills this void by providing warm, welcoming shelter, expert settlement support, orientation to life in Canada as well as long-term transitional housing for especially vulnerable refugees such as unaccompanied youth.

In an effort to prepare claimants for their refugee status determination process, Matthew House started an initiative to prepare refugee claimants emotionally and intellectually for their refugee hearing. They created the Refugee Hearing Program that simulates the exact process of a refugee hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.