IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE BOARD OF CANADA (IRB)
The information given in this source description mainly focuses on the work of the IRB’s Research Directorate.
Mission/Mandate:
„The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada is an independent tribunal established by the Parliament of Canada. Our mission, on behalf of Canadians, is to make well-reasoned decisions on immigration and refugee matters, efficiently, fairly, and in accordance with the law.“ (IRB Website, http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/about/vision_e.htm, accessed on 18 February 2008)
Other agencies involved in Canadian refugee status determination procedure: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) (IRB Website, http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/about/airb_e.htm, accessed on 18 February 2008).
Target group:
Mainly the IRB’s Refugee Protection Division, Immigration Division, Immigration Appeal Division, but information is made publicly available.
Objective:
COI research is provided by the IRB’s Research Directorate.
“The research program exists to meet the information requirements of those involved in Canada's refugee protection determination process by providing and making publicly available, current, and reliable information related to human rights and to refugee and migration issues, through documentation that supports fair refugee determination.“ (IRB Website, http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/research/index_e.htm, accessed on 29 January 2008)
Funding:
Scope of reporting:
Geographic focus: Most countries of origin of asylum seekers.
Thematic focus: IRB’s research is focused on providing relevant, current and reliable information on a broad range of topics relating to the social, political, economic and human rights conditions in countries of origin of asylum seekers (IRB Website, http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/research/index_e.htm, accessed on 29 January 2008).
Reporting methodology:
“All information used in the Research Directorate's documents is carefully selected from publicly available sources and full publication details of supporting documentation are provided. Multiple sourcing is used to ensure that the information is accurate, balanced and corroborated, and that the most comprehensive picture possible is given of conditions in the countries of origin of refugee claimants within time and resource constraints. Information is compared, contrasted and corroborated, whenever possible, to provide decision makers with a spectrum of views and opinions drawn from current, reliable sources.” (IRB Website, http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/research/about_e.htm, accessed on 18 February 2008)
The Research Directorate only uses publicly available information. Additionally, Responses to Information Requests are often based on oral sources and therefore provide expert information on a range of issues (such as culture, religion, ethnicity, documents, etc). The Research Directorate refrains from commenting on the information provided and does not produce position papers (ACCORD: Researching Country of Origin Information, A Training Manual, Annex, 2004, http://www.coi-training.net/content/doc/en-COI%20Manual%20Annex.pdf, accessed on 18 February 2008).
Publication cycle:
National Documentation Packages (NDPs) are regularly reviewed and updated as country conditions change.
Responses to Information Requests (RIRs) are published ad hoc.
Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets are published sporadically (depending on the needs of the target group).
Languages:
English, French.
Navigation of website:
National Documentation Packages (NDPs): Contain IRB Responses to Information Requests and other documents on human rights, security conditions and other issues relevant to the determination of refugee protection claims (http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/research/ndp/index_e.htm, accessed on 18 February 2008).
Additional references:
