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The Toronto Star
NEWS, Tuesday, February 16, 1993, p. A2

Refugee board head rejects racism claim

By Donovan Vincent TORONTO STAR

The head of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board says she has found no evidence to support accusations that its members are pressed to reject refugee claimants or that racism thrives on the board.

Dr. Sam Ifejika, a member of the board's backlog subdivision, resigned last November six weeks before the term of his $86,000-a-year job was to end, demanding an independent inquiry into "racism and interference" on the board.

He said board members had been pressed to turn in negative decisions and reject claimants. He also claimed few visible minority members of the backlog section would be kept on to work on the board once that section is phased out.

Ifejika claimed a regional co-ordinator spoke to him on the phone and pressed him to "go negative" on a refugee case from Yugoslavia.

He also said there was bickering and favoritism at two board offices, one in Mississauga and one in Toronto. Ifejika worked in Mississauga.

But in a letter to Ifejika, released to The Star yesterday, Nurjehan Mawani, chairperson of the board, said an internal inquiry she launched has failed to substantiate Ifejika's claims.

"Despite your allegations, I have been unable to discover evidence of such interference," Mawani's four-page letter states.

"I am also satisfied that comments and incidents you claim show racial intolerance towards you, or evidence of mismanagement, have not been substantiated by the facts or the comments of other members," the letter adds.

Mawani said the board has a "rich diversity" of cultural and ethnic representation and a higher percentage of minorities working for it than any other federal government department or agency. Mawani, who was born and raised in Kenya, said the board has a policy of zero-tolerance towards insensitive behavior.

"Your claim that members of visible minorities were treated unfairly vis-a-vis recommendations for reappointments is unfounded," the letter says.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Ifejika, now a freelance writer, called the probe into his remarks "a whitewash and a cover-up. It was not an independent inquiry."

He added that a third-party probe would have produced more answers.

Ifejika's resignation was not the first time the board has been embroiled in controversy.

Last year two refugee board members, Naomi Goldie and Ralph Snow, were permanently removed from hearings after passing mocking notes about a torture victim who had appeared before them.

Illustration(s):

Photo: Sam Ifejika

Subject(s) - The Toronto Star : Canada immigration ethnic discrimination
Edition: AM
Length: Medium, 319 words

Doc. : news?9930216·TS?9509