028 // Who decides who gets in? Foreign Service Officers and the negotiation of refugee policy

Kathryn Exon Smith -

Refugees and refugee policy are frequently subject of political debate and discussion. However, we rarely hear from refugee applicants themselves, or the public servants who spend so much time negotiating their claims. Who are the people who do these jobs, and how do they interpret national refugee policy in the middle of war? What does agency mean in this context -- who has it, and what does it look like?

In this salon, Andriata and I will discuss the insights and personal stories Andriata learned from her extensive conversations with policy officers about their experiences and their role in determining “who gets in.” She will also talk about refugee policy within the context of the Cold War, and the experience of representing a nation abroad. Andy’s research focuses on Canada, but (as always!) the conversation will touch on more general themes and ideas.

Andriata's research is on the history of international migration and refugee protection policy since the end of the Second World War, with a focus on African refugees. She received her Ph.D. in History from Carleton University in 2019, titled Narrators, Navigators and Negotiators - Foreign Service Officer Life Stories from Canada's Resettlement Program (in Africa), 1970 to 1990. Andriata has also worked as a policy analyst with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada since 2010.

Who Gets In?
Who Gets In? explores the many questions raised by Canada’s immigration policy in the face of one of the world’s largest immigration movements. Shot in 1988 in Africa, Canada and Hong Kong, the film reveals first-hand what Canadian immigration officials are looking for in potential new Canadians, an…
National Film Board of CanadaNational Film Board of Canada
Oral History Project - Uganda Collection, Carleton University Library
Oral History Project - Uganda Collection. Archives and Research Collections has been working with the Ugandan Asian community in Canada to collect oral
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Q&A: Mike Molloy, the man who delivered the ‘boat people’ - Macleans.ca
He was tasked with bringing 60,000 refugees to Canada after the Vietnam War. Now, Michael Molloy says it’s time to do the right thing again.
Macleans.caMichael Friscolanti
The story behind the world’s first private refugee sponsorship program
Forty years ago, the Canadian government applied its new program for private sponsorship of refugees allowing Canada to welcome the largest number of Southeast Asian refugees in the world.
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The one-man board of immigration
Twenty-two-year-old Canadian Immigration Officer Scott Mullin decides who does and who doesn’t get into Canada.
CBC
Refugees as a long-term investment in the country: Tim Harper
The man who oversaw selection of the 1979 Vietnamese refugees says new arrivals offer generational benefits for Canada
thestar.comTim Harper
The Vietnam War: Canada’s Role, Part Two: The Boat People | CBC Radio
The story of the boat people that fled Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos after the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975. Some of the survivors languished for years in refugee camps. The luckier ones were taken in by countries like Canada.
CBCCBC Radio · Posted: Apr 30, 2015 1:00 AM ET | Last Updated: April 30, 2015

This salon took place June 12, 2020.