CANADA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS 2015

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CANADA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS 2015

Presented to fulfill the requirements for achieving the bachelor degree of International Program for International Relations (IPIREL)

Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Written by: Iqbal Dwiharianto

20130510038

Advisor:

Adde Marup Wirasenjaya., S. IP., M.A

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

FACULTY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

CANADA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS 2015

Written by: Iqbal Dwiharianto

20130510038

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

FACULTY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA

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CANADA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS 2015

Presented to fulfill the requirements for achieving the bachelor degree of International Program for International Relations (IPIREL)

Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Written by: Iqbal Dwiharianto

20130510038

Advisor:

Adde Marup Wirasenjaya., S. IP., M.A

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

FACULTY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA

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STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY

I hereby certify that my undergraduate thesis is original and has not been asked to get a bachelor degree at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta or in other colleges.

In this undergraduate thesis, there is no work or opinions that have been written or published by others except in writing clearly listed as a reference in the script with the name mentioned and listed in the references.

I made this statement in real and if in future there is a mistake in this statement, then I am willing to accept academic sanction in accordance with the applicable rules at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta.

Yogyakarta, April 2017

Author

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“I believe that political correctness can be a form of linguistic

fascism, and it sends shivers down the spine of my generation who went to war against fascism.”

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praise to Allah SWT and His messenger Prophet Muhammad SAW that because of His blessing this undergraduate thesis entitled with “Canada’s Refugee

Resettlement Program: A Case Study of Syrian Refugee Crisis 2015” can be finally completed. Therefore, the author would like to address his gratitude towards those who have been involved, especially for my advisor, Adde Marup Wirasenjaya, S. IP., M.A. The board of examiners, Ali Muhammad, M.A., Ph.D. and Wahyuni Kartikasari, S.T., S. IP., M.A. The language supervisor, Lanoke Intan Paradita, S.S., M.Hum.

This undergraduate thesis is submitted as a requirement for obtaining S-1 (Bachelor) degree in International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. Although this piece of work is still far from perfection, the author hopes that it can give a contribution to the study of international relations, specifically in the field of Canadian studies.

Yogyakarta, April 13th_{, 2017}

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EXTENDED GRATITUDE

The gratitude is also addressed to those who have been very supportive of me in completing this undergraduate thesis, they are:

1. My family, especially my mother and father (Drs. Suharsono, M. Pd. & Dra. Leny Ariyani Ningsih). I thank you for the love, prayers, and every single form of support that you have sincerely given to me all this time. Also thank you to my brother (Reza Taufik Maluna S. Pd) for being one of my role models in the academic life.

2. “Ilmuwan”, Aji Prasidha, Siti Widyastuti Noor, Galuh Octania. Thank you for being a productive circle of friend. Finally we graduate all at the same time.

3. All those who have given their supports that cannot be specifically mentioned one by one.

vii ABSTRACT

The aims of this research is to identify the existence of socio-cultural as well as the political influence towards the decision making process of Canadian foreign policy (which is manifested in its refugee resettlement program) on

the issue of Syrian refugee’s resettlement in the aftermath of Syrian civil

war. Compared with other western countries which tend to be more protective in their immigration policies, Canada has been doing all the opposite. A very progressive approach has been showcased as a form of response towards the discussed issue. In explaining the research, the author utilizes the approach from constructivism theory and decision making process as a tool of analysis.

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Table of Contents

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS ... i

ENDORSEMENT PAGE ... ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY ... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... v

EXTENDED GRATITUDE ... vi

ABSTRACT ... vii

List of Table ... x

List of Diagram ... xi

CHAPTER 1 ... 1

INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the Issue ... 1

B. Research Question ... 5

C. Purpose of the Research ... 6

D. Theoretical Framework ... 6

1. Constructivism Theory ... 6

2. Decision Making Process ... 7

E. Hypothesis ... 9

F. Method of Research ... 10

G. Scope of Research ... 10

H. Structure of Writing ... 11

CHAPTER II ... 12

THE ORIGIN, IMPACTS, AND WORLD’S RESPONSE TOWARDS SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS ... 12

A. The Origin of Syrian Civil War ... 12

B. The Distribution of Syrian Refugees ... 16

C. International Responses on Syrian Refugee Crisis ... 19

1. The United Nations ... 19

2. The European Union ... 21

3. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ... 22

4. Amnesty International ... 23

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CANADA’S SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION ON REFUGEES ... 26

A. Canada as a Destination for the Refugees ... 26

B. Canada’s Response towards the Syrian Refugee Crisis ... 29

C. Canada’s Social Construction towards Refugee ... 33

CHAPTER IV ... 41

CANADA’S DECISION MAKING PROCESS TOWARDS SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS ... 41

A. An Overview of the Government System in Canada ... 41

B. Canada’s Decision Making Process towards Syrian Refugee Crisis ... 44

1. The Cabinet Stage ... 44

2. The Parliament Stage ... 45

3. Coming into Force Stage ... 46

4. The Influencing Aspects of Decision Making Process ... 47

C. Feedbacks towards the Outcome of the Decision Making Process ... 55

CHAPTER V ... 61

CONCLUSION ... 61

x List of Table

Table 1. Decision Making Process ... 8

Table 2. Canada’s decision making process on accepting 25.000 Syrian

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List of Diagram

Diagram 1. Overall Polling Result on Syrian refugee resettlement plan ... 56

Diagram 2. Polling Result on the legacy of Syrian refugee resettlement plan ... 57

Diagram 3. Fluctuation on support for the government ... 58

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vii ABSTRACT

The aims of this research is to identify the existence of socio-cultural as well as the political influence towards the decision making process of Canadian foreign policy (which is manifested in its refugee resettlement program) on the issue of Syrian refugee’s resettlement in the aftermath of Syrian civil war. Compared with other western countries which tend to be more protective in their immigration policies, Canada has been doing all the opposite. A very progressive approach has been showcased as a form of response towards the discussed issue. In explaining the research, the author utilizes the approach from constructivism theory and decision making process as a tool of analysis.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Issue

At the same year when the Syrian civil war escalated for the first time in 2011, thousands of people from Syria have been fleeing to various states located nearby and faraway. As the conflict which continues up to the date still cannot be resolved, the ironic fact occurs that the number of Syrian refugees does not actually decrease but it goes the other way around. For the record, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that Turkey is currently the country within the region that hosts the biggest number of Syrian refugees up to 2.503.549 (UNHCR, 2015).

Going along with the same issue, various debates around the topic of the significance of Syrian refugee crisis towards the potential security threat are happening all around the world. The fear was becoming even more real as it was intensified by the terrorist attack that happened in Paris, and Brussels. This, in the other hand, complicates the way for Syrian refugees to find a safe haven for them to live in. At least until the conflict is completely resolved.

The proof of such fear can be seen from the lack of acceptance of Syrian refugee in several countries located in the western hemisphere. Speaking about the United States in particular, from 10.000 Syrian refugees targeted to be resettled by the President Barack Obama, only 1.300 (equivalent of 13 percent) have been admitted until today (Koran, 2016).

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Located next to the U.S, Canada has shown a contrast and yet positive trend in responding the issue of Syrian refugee crisis. Under the new elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada promises to resettle 25.000 Syrian refugees by bringing them into the Canadian soil by 2015 (Susana Mas, 2015). Although the target to complete all the resettlement processes failed to be completed by the end 2015, Canada still continues the effort to contribute in helping the refugee crisis until the target to resettle 25.000 Syrian refugee was successfully completed by the early of 2016. December 10th 2015 was marked as the day when the first 150 Syrian refugees arrived in Pearson International Airport, Canada (Zorthian, 2015).

The fact that Canada seems to be so “open” with the wave of Syrian refugees

directly corresponds to numbers of reasons and arguments which justify the voices that support the government of Canada (among all other countries in the world) to see Syrian refugee crisis as one of the priorities to be taken care of.

As quoted by Los Angeles Times, Tarah Demant, a senior director of the Identity and Discrimination Unit at Amnesty International USA, emphasizes a point of problem which lies in the lack of responsibility taken by the wealthy countries in handling the incoming refugees. She said, “Wealthier countries are not doing their fair share,” to the extent of her discovery which shows that the burden of responsibility “…is falling on countries that don’t have the resources” despite the effect of this global crisis is actually affecting every countries (Simmons A. M., 2016).

The urgency to open the border for Syrian refugees is also being emphasized by the European migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he directly addresses the U.S and Canada to give more

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help on the refugees as he concerns about the Europe which is currently facing the growing issue of xenophobia and populism. In the other hand, he also appreciates Canada for already showing the positive response and, at the same time, realizes that migration recently becomes a hot issue in the U.S. However, he looks forward to settle the cooperation with the U.S government after the election has been done (Pop, 2016).

In the government’s perspective, the response of Canada in accepting the

wave of Syrian refugees can be tracked back into several motivations. One of the most underlying fundamental motivations is that such policy is included as one of

the liberal party’s pledges (where the current Prime Minister is from) in the campaign that is driven by the suffering of many Syrians as well as other surrounding countries. As reported by Sonja Puzic for CTV News in October 2015, Justin Trudeau promised to “…bring 25,000 refugees to Canada by the end of 2015 (Puzic, 2015; Liberal Party, 2016).”

Speaking in the present context, what Canada has been doing in regards to Syrian refugees has turned into a form of continuation on their commitment in establishing resettlement for the refugees (Government of Canada, 2016). This form of continuation is displayed through quantitative measure by increasing the target number to 50.000 Syrian refugees (Associated Press in Toronto, 2016) and qualitatively by keeping the refugee resettlement program revised and added by various new systems.

In the other hand, the two different sectors that are involved in the refugee resettlement program (namely government and private sector) have also created a certain urgency to Canada as a whole nation to keep receiving more of Syrian

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refugees. John McCallum, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, said to The Guardian that Canada will take “…in an additional 10.000 Syrian refugees” from the remaining initial target, as he was also responding to the complaints from Canadian groups whose sponsorship applications still have not been processed (Reuters in Toronto, 2016).

Taking it into the scholar’s point of view, there are also several arguments that can reveal the urgency of accepting refugees for Canada in particular. One of the arguments that may add a reason to the notion of Canada to take part in handling Syrian refugees is indirectly strengthened by Philippe Fargues, Director of the Migration Policy Centre.

In a part of the policy brief entitled “Europe Must Take on its Share of the

Syrian Refugee Burden, but How?” he wrote that there is an increase of obstacles

for Syrian refugee. What he actually tried to explain is that although there were 86.7 percent of Syrian asylum seekers being granted for refugee or temporary protection status, the sign of closure from the EU is still very visible. This is because the soaring number of Syrian refugees who turn to smugglers does not stop since the very beginning of the crisis. As a fact,within only 2 years (from 2011 to 2013) there is 30 percent increase of Syrian who smuggled through Greece or Italy (Fargues, Europe Must Take on its Share of the Syrian Refugee Burden, but How?, 2014). This fact supports the argument that it supposed to be enough to create an urgency for humanitarian response.

The other argument comes from the article entitled “Can refugees benefit the

state? Refugee resources and African state building.” In this article, Karen Jacobsen

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resources in which a state can retrieve by becoming a host country. When she talked about the resources, she to refer it to material, social and political resources that can foster the state building process (Jacobsen, 2002).

However, her case study took place in the African states such as Ethiopia, Guinea, and Namibia wherein, she observed, the state authority in these border areas are considered weak and often being contested by rebel groups. That condition creates a counterproductive result to her thesis which mentions that those potential resources can only be utilized when a state can access and control these resources (Jacobsen, 2002).

This somehow becomes very distinctive to the condition that happens in Canada where the government control upon the border area is exercised better than that in the mentioned African states. That being said, with such a longstanding humanitarian activism which has been lasting for more than 60 years even before Canada eventually signed the UN Convention and Protocol for refugee in 1966 (Bissett, 1986), it is believed that Canada is more than capable to translate the flow of Syrian refugees into a kind of new resource that can be used to foster the nation building.

B. Research Question

With the explanation above, the author would propose a research question as followed;

Why did Canadian government build such a positive humanitarian response

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C. Purpose of the Research

This research is conducted with a certain expectation that it would be able to identify some key factors that influence the decision making process of the Canadian government, particularly in the context of resettlement of Syrian refugees. In the other hand, this undergraduate thesis is also hoped to be an addition to the Canadian studies.

D. Theoretical Framework

In analyzing the problem contained within this particular research, the author utilizes the basic framework from constructivism theory of international relations as well as decision making process model in order to answer the research question.

1. Constructivism Theory

Constructivism is one of the most significant theories known within the realm of international relations studies. Compared to other theories (primarily to the positivist theories such as realism and idealism) constructivism is considered relatively new to be used as one of academic tools in explaining the phenomena in international relations. The significance of this theory is seen from the alternative view and a framework for the study

of IR. Popularly emerged in the era of 1940’s, constructivism is also believed to be accountable in explaining the demise of Cold War (Lui, 2012).

This theory works with a fundamental assumption that international

politics is actually the result of “social construction.” Therefore, rather than emphasizing the idea of state as the sole actor in the dynamics of international politics, this theory emphasizes the presence of micro agent (in

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this sense is the society) as the starting point of analysis and state as the top end point of analysis. Alexander Wendt in his book entitled Social Theory of International Politics explains in retrospect that constructivism adapts two basic tenets which are,

“(1) That the structures of human association are

determined primarily by shared ideas rather than material forces, and (2) that the identities and interests of purposive actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than given by nature.” (Wendt, 1999)

Although there might be various forms and interpretations about constructivism theory in IR, for the purpose of writing this research the author would try to focus on the one that is stated by Wendt. The version of constructivism theory which Wendt articulates is believed to be moderate constructivism in which it provides the interaction of structural and symbolical sociology.

In this research, this theory will be utilized as the tool to explain the influence of Canadian society towards its government’s decision making process related to the policy of resettling Syrian refugees. That being said, this theory could be implemented to explain the possibility of occurrence of social construction within Canadian society that fosters its identity as an

“open for refugee” society.

2. Decision Making Process

Foreign policy can be acknowledged as the outcome national interest of a certain country. Given that statement, the existence of national interest would, by nature, bring a specific approach to the decision maker that further actions taken under the same notion has to be based on rational consideration.

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William D. Coplin (2003) in the book entitled Introduction to International Politics introduces a model in which he explains how a

decision within the government’s framework is made. In retrospect, Coplin explains that to analyze the process of decision making we should not exclude the other factors to be considered. There are three things that Coplin believes contributing to the final output of a foreign policy’s decision making process.

First, Domestic politics is believed as one of the influencing factors in the decision making process. This may include some factors such as cultural influence that may set certain set of political decisions. Second, military and economic condition will also be essential for the purpose of measuring the capacity of a state. Third, International context is included as it determines how a state will have to contextualize their policy based on their geographical, economical, and political condition. The process of decision making according to Coplin is described as follows;

Domestic Politics

Decision Maker

Economic Military

Foreign Policy Implementation

International Context

Table 1. Decision Making Process

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a. Pluralist Model

The type of decision making process into three models namely; Democratic model; Pluralist model; and Ruling Elite model. For this particular research, the author would like to utilize the pluralist model of decision making process in order to explain the later findings.

As a basic understanding, pluralist model of decision making works differently with the democratic model whereas people are more well-informed and more directly involved in an individual manner. In the pluralist model, people tend to be committed to give the autonomy to certain representative groups (or as in the book is referred to organizations) that then will act as the policy influencers.

But also in the other hand, this model tries to display an equilibrium in the decision making process that no actor is holding the dominance over others. With the characteristic of authority that is more decentralized, this very model also tends to use more bargaining and compromise principle in running the decision making process (Coplin, 2003).

Based on the explanation above, this theory will later be used to explain the decision making process of the Canadian government and to find the influencing factors outside the Canadian government itself.

E. Hypothesis

With the basic ideas that have been described previously, the author stipulates two hypothesis:

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1. There is a push from Canadian historical value that can eventually shape

Canada’s identity as a country that opens to the refugee.

2. The decision making process towards the acceptance of Syrian refugees in Canada is influenced by the three factors (domestic politics, military/economic condition, and international context) as well as Civil Society/NGO that lies outside of the government.

F. Method of Research

In writing this research the author uses descriptive method. To support such method, the author also uses data gathering techniques in which the author would collect the secondary data such as books, journals, news, websites as well as other electronic data which related to the discussed topic.

G. Scope of Research

To set the focus of this research, the author would need to obtain the data from 1947 which happened to be the year when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted also in which Canada, said the Ministry of Global Affair has been “…a consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights and the advancement of democratic values, from our central role in the drafting of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1947-1948” (Global Affairs Canada,

n.d.) However, the research will be focused on between 2010 and 2015 when the actual policy towards the resettlement of Syrian refugee crisis was implemented.

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H. Structure of Writing

This research would use the outline as follows: Chapter 1

This chapter describes background of the issue, research question, purpose of research, theoretical framework, hypothesis, method of research, range of research and system of writing.

Chapter 2

This chapter explains about the origin of Syrian civil war which becomes the starting point of Syrian refugee crisis featured with certain supporting statistics

that will show the significance of such crisis to the entire world’s political

constellation. Chapter 3

This chapter explains about the approach that is taken by Canadian government in shaping its identity as a country that opens to refugees.

Chapter 4

This chapter explains about the process of Canadian foreign policy towards Syrian refugee crisis being formulated. This chapter will specifically attempt to identify the other actors involved in the process along with their influence towards it.

Chapter 5

This chapter concludes the entire research and explanations that have been discussed in the previous chapters.

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CHAPTER II

THE ORIGIN, IMPACTS, AND WORLD’S RESPONSE

TOWARDS SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS

This chapter is about to explain three aspects. First, the origin of the Syrian civil wars as the trigger of Syrian refugee crisis; second, the spread of Syrian refugees to various countries all over the world; third, various responses from international organizations regarding their stances on the acceptance of Syrian refugees.

A. The Origin of Syrian Civil War

Syrian refugee crisis is the result of Syrian civil war. Due to many numbers of actors involved in this war, Syrian civil war has a quite high level of complexity to explain. That, in the other hand, makes this tragedy cannot be considered only as a regular domestic conflict, but rather as a domestic conflict with such a strong affiliation with international actors. The explanation of Syrian civil war below will be presented in a sequential presentation.

The pro-democracy protest suddenly turned into chaotic as Bashar’s army started to demonstrate such a violent response towards the demonstrators all across the country. About 280 people were killed along the unrest that lasted for about six weeks (Marsh & Tisdal, 2011). The incident which was also part of the Arab spring pursued some demands over political freedom as well as the ending of corruption in Syria.

To scrutinize the motivation behind of the said demonstration it is necessary to know the overview of Bashar al-Assad’s political behavior that eventually leads

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to this point. Bashar succeeded his father, Hafiz al-Assad, to assume the office

following his father’s death in June, 2000. That made him the 19th president of Syria and the second in a row president from Syrian Baath Party. Among various religious

and ethnic groups residing Syria, Assad’s family comes from a minority-considered groups named the Alawite. This group is believed to account for about 12 percent of Syrian total population (Pipes, 1991).

Assad’s regime’s affiliation with the Alawit group is believed to be one of the triggering reasons of Syria today’s condition. Eyal Zisser in “Bashar Al-Assad: In or Out of the New World Order?” explains the significance of the Alawit within

Assad’s regime. He describes that commanders of the Security Service, the army

units, Syrian political bosses, and members of Baath Party are also part of the Alawit group. To that extent, Zisser also describes that aside from Bashar al-Assad’s leadership that seems to have lack of experience and charisma, it was also considered too weak to break down the said affiliation within the office (Zisser, 2005).

That constant style of leadership has compromised Assad’s vision to reform

Syrian political trajectory. His presidency has later been challenged by the Syrian protesters who think that the country is getting way more distant from democracy. In brief, these protesters start to gain more people and form themselves as the Free

Syrian Army whose stance is, of course, opposing Assad’s government.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) is apparently not just a mundane opposition group which acts of opposition are manifested mostly through soft approaches. In fact, the FSA is founded upon more than a thousand of Syrian rebel groups with different scale of operations (BBC, 2013). From time to time, the FSA has been plenty of time caught in heavy military clashes with the Assad’s army. Some that might be very

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appealing to public are the clashes between the FSA and Assad’s army in the city of

Aleppo.

Within their struggles against Assad’s government army, the FSA recognizes

a problem on the side of coordination that is still lacking from one another. Departing from that, these rebel groups under the FSA umbrella eventually agree to unify their leadership body into one called the Supreme Joint Military Command Council or also known as the Supreme Military Command (SMC) on December 7, 2012

(O’Bagy, 2013).

The situation in Syrian even got worse when Assad’s regime was reported to

launch chemical weapon attack against the civilians. There are at least two reported incidents of the said-chemical weapon attack taking place in Idlib province on April 2014 and March 2015. Chlorine was confirmed by the United Nations to be the

substance used by Bashar’s regime within that attack (Ensor, 2016).

What makes the author called the Syrian civil war to have a strong affiliation with international actors is that because in this civil war there are allegedly many

countries involved as either pro Assad’s party or against Assad’s party. Max Fisher

in a video entitled “Syria’s war: Who is fighting and why” visually illustrates the flow of financial and technical support from several countries. More into that, he visualizes the presence and involvement of Iran and Russia as two countries supporting the existence of Assad’s regime. He stated that, “…in the end of 2012 Iran is sending daily cargo flights and hundreds of officers on the ground.” (Fisher, 2015)

In the other hand, the against Assad’s regime countries are said by the video as the United States, Turkey, and the Gulf states. Except the U.S, those countries are

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said to support the rebel groups through financial aids. Meanwhile the U.S is said to give support to the rebel groups through the CIA by training and equipping them (Fisher, 2015). In that sense, Syrian civil war has further become a proxy war.

Syria becomes an even more dangerous place to stay as in the middle of the civil war also emerges an extremist group calling themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) (Issa, 2016). Unlike the rebel groups, this group specifically aims to establish a caliphate state system in Syria and also in the states all across the world. The approach to its goal is often manifested in many violent ways. Beheading foreign journalists and terrorizing states overseas by bombing their public places are mainly the idea that they constantly galvanize to the world.

The rise of ISIS in the middle of that civil war increases the level of hostility in Syria. Thinking that ISIS is a serious threat to the world had U.S deployed a collective intervention led by the U.S in September 22, 2014 (Saul, 2014). Russia responded to this threat in a similar tone. In early October 2015, Russia finally

deployed a military intervention to Syria after Putin’s proposal was granted by the

Russian parliament (Walker S. , 2015).

Regardless what other spreading rumors and some alternative theories have to explain on the actual American-led and Russian interventions’ purpose in Syria, all of these countries involvement in the Syrian civil war have justified the level of insecurity that is very dangerous for the civilians to live in. Speaking on that sense,

having the idea to flee is just very logical for everyone to do as everyone’s life there

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B. The Distribution of Syrian Refugees

The Syrian civil war, in fact, is not only destructing the infrastructures for people to live in, but also the suprastructures where people mostly rely their life on the aspect such as economy and politics. That is to say that the escalation of the said civil war directly corresponds to the outbreak of Syrian refugees to various countries across the globe. Some countries inside of the region have become the main destinations for the refugees to flee. Not limited to that, a significant number of Syrian refugees has also been found in the countries that are way further than those inside the region.

Mentioned in the previous chapter is the fact that Turkey has been hosting for more than 2 million Syrian refugees ever since its first outbreak in 2011. To be more exact, the last data update by UNHCR on 7 November 2016 counted that there are actually 2.764.500 Syrian refugees in Turkey (UNHCR, 2016). That, at the same time, makes Turkey as the country to host the highest number of Syrian refugees in the region.

Speaking on the region itself, the data says there are 4.810.216 Syrian refugees distributed to several countries across the region involving Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, countries in North Africa, and Turkey. Those countries are currently responsible for hosting different amount of Syrian refugees in each territories.

Lebanon, for example, has the second highest number of Syrian refugees hosted in the region for about 1.017.433. Following that, the other 655.833 refugees are currently hosted in Jordan and 227.971 are in Iraq. Egypt, as the data shows,

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happens to have the lowest number of Syrian refugees that are 115.204, when the rest of 29.275 Syrian refugees are hosted in the North Africa (UNHCR, 2016).

Outside the region, many of Syrian refugees have reached the countries in Europe as their destinations. The data that is collected by the UNHCR in Europe shows that there are currently 37 European countries involved in hosting the incoming wave of Syrian refugees to Europe which 28 of them happen to be the members of the European Union (UNHCR, 2016).

Data from the UNHCR also shows that Germany is observed to be the European country that accepts the highest number of Syrian asylum applications up to 449.770. The second highest is followed by Serbia which accepts up to 314.852. The other 413.292 from the total amount of 1.177.914 Syrian asylum applications are distributed to other European states ranging Iceland to Cyprus (UNHCR, 2016). In Southeast Asia, Malaysia is reported to have welcomed 68 Syrian refugees of total 3000 that are promised to be resettled by the Malaysian government over the next three years (BBC, 2015). Meanwhile, the Philippines has stated that they are ready to take in Syrian refugees although it is still not clear on how many Syrian refugees are intended to be taken (The Philippine Star, 2015).

For the same reason, on September 2015, Australian government also planned to resettle 12.000 places for the Syrian refugees as a form of Australian humanitarian program. This is marked as an additional number to its humanitarian program which makes Australia to be responsible for 13.750 places for the financial year of 2015 - 2016 (Australian Government, n.d.).

In North America, the United States also shows some contribution in regards to the acceptance of Syrian refugees. Reported by CNN on 2015, there are 1.800

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Syrian refugees admitted by the U.S government by October 1, 2014. The report extends that Obama has made an order to increase the number of acceptance for at least 10.000 in the next financial year (Martinez, 2015).

In that situation, it is necessary to know that the movement of Syrians from one place to another was not an easy story. In the process, as many of us may have known, there has been a lot of dramatic incidents happening in it. The problems that occur are mostly generated by the issue of limited acceptance in the destination countries which is not linear with the exponential growth of the Syrian refugee itself. The issue in resettlement capacity and process leave the Syrian refugees with

no option but to become illegal refugees. The term of ‘illegal’ mentioned in this

writing is to express the Syrian refugees that come across the national border without going through any constituted measures. Mediterranean Sea is known to be the most popular route for the Syrian refugees to get into the European countries. However, this route is also known to be very dangerous. The Telegraph reported that in 2015 there have been more than 2.500 people died in their attempt to go crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Quoted from the same source (Squires, 2016), it also said that,

“That number represents a significant increase compared with the same period last year, when 1,855 migrants lost their lives after their boats capsized and sank. In 2014, the figure for the same period was just 57.”

The other impact from the overwhelming number of Syrian refugees is the

occurrence of the refugee’s smugglers. Reported by the Guardian in May 2016,

Italian navy had forcibly sunk a trawler filled up with around 550 refugees after it was caught crossing the southern Mediterranean Sea to enter Italian territory. It was

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fortunate that in that incident, Italian navy successfully managed to save almost all of the refugees (Kingsley, 2016).

In the same issue, Greece also happens to experience the same problem as one of the entry points to the European mainland. It is observed that Syrian refugees who already arrived in Greece start to feel desperate as the Macedonian border (a border that connects to the western part of Europe) is closed (Aljazeera, 2016). The fear of not being able to be resettled in the western European countries leads the refugees to take risky measure by paying the smugglers to get them crossing off the border.

C. International Responses on Syrian Refugee Crisis

Syrian refugee crisis has invited many international responses ranging from international governmental organization (IGO) until the international non-governmental organizations (INGO). In regards to this particular tragedy, those responses are specifically addressed for the possibility of solutions that can be implemented to the current conditions of the Syrian refugee outbreak.

The following explanations are derived from the actions, recommendations, and solutions given by the said actors whose capacity are clearly diversified according to their role and either IGO or INGO. Thus, there are 4 different responses to be discussed, they are first, Amnesty International; second, the United Nations; third, the European Union; fourth, Organization of Islamic Conference.

1. The United Nations

When it comes to the issue of Syrian refugee crisis, the United Nations seems to hold a quite big portion within the discussion. As a fact, for this specific

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range of field, the UN has established a special commission called the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (often abbreviated as UNHCR).

Speaking on the form of response it has shown, the UNHCR is often referred as the main platform for almost every other organizations and/or humanitarian aid movements to work with. However, ever since the escalation of the Syrian civil war happened (even before the Syrian civil war exists) there has been plenty of conferences conducted by the higher board of the organization such as the UN Security Council resulting various resolutions regarding the condition in Syria.

Take for an example the resolution number 2254 that was adopted by the UN Security Council in 2015. A resolution that sets in focus on endorsing road map for peace process in Syria, also apparently manages to urge the UN member states to participate in providing the necessary assistance regarding the issue. Stated in the point number 14th of the resolution,

“Underscores the critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their home areas and the rehabilitation of affected areas, in accordance with international law, including applicable provisions of the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and taking into account the interests of those countries hosting refugees, urges Member States to provide assistance in this regard, looks forward to the London Conference on Syria in February 2016, hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the United Nations, as an important contribution to this endeavour, and further expresses its support to the post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation of

Syria (United Nations Security Council, 2015);”

Putting it into the recent practice, the UN, through UNHCR, says to have been contributing on providing the basic needs needed by the Syrian refugees such as food, medicine, clothes, and else. UNHCR also sets the Regional

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Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) in order to help the funding for the countries that have received the Syrian refugees and are located in the same region. Not to

mention, the 3RP’s 2015 annual report says that they have successfully collected

USD 4.32 billion through the inter-agency program (UNHCR 3RP, 2015).

2. The European Union

As an international organization (or to be more exact, supranational) the European Union, too, has its own way in responding and doing its efforts towards the Syrian refugee crisis. Following some of the facts that have been mentioned in the previous sub-chapter, we have known that the European land is one of the most popular destinations for the Syrian refugees to come to. By speaking on that sense, we need to also know that almost all policies made in regards to that particular problem and which have been also affecting the decision in the European countries are under the management of the European Union.

Mentioned in a research report written by the Migration Policy Centre in 2012 (Fargues & Fandrich, The European Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis: What Next?, MPC RR 2012/14, 2012), the EU was said to have provided around

€230 million for the purpose of humanitarian assistance and other necessary needs of the Syrian refugees. That is to say that, as a supranational organization, the EU has taken the option of using financial aid as one of their effort of tackling the Syrian refugee issue.

The other measure taken by the EU besides contributing through funding the humanitarian aid for the Syrian refugees is also by suspending the cooperation it has with the government of Syria (European Union Strategic

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Communication, 2014). This suspension has been gradually developed into a restrictive measures (similar to sanctions) such as embargo on goods that can be further used for internal repression, and many others (European Commission, 2016). This decision can be taken as an example of firm response to the Syrian government for such a horrible humanitarian condition in Syria.

3. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

This organization also has been showing its response towards the said tragedy. As an organizations whose members consist of countries with large Muslim population (if not a total Muslim countries), OIC acts through numbers of strong advocacies and conferences in order to manifest its actions and concerns towards the growing number of Syrian refugees.

A summit called the 13th Islamic Summit of the Heads of State/Government of the OIC Member States that was conducted on April 15th, 2016 had succeed to make a final communique as an output. In particular, some

of the points written in that final communique address the OIC’s view and

concern on the Syrian refugee crisis. As one of the examples, mentioned in the point number 54 of the communique,

“The Conference called on the international community and OIC

Member States to support Syrian refugees and countries hosting them as soon as possible, and to develop resettlement programmes for Syrian refugees in order to alleviate their plights and that of the hosting States (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 2016).”

In particular, the OIC also manages to conduct a Permanent Representatives meeting to talk about the deteriorating situation in Syria,

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especially in the city of Aleppo. The meeting which took place on October 9th, 2016, also happens to result an output called the final communique. Most of the

points articulated within the output address the OIC’s condemnation towards the

ruling regime in Syria who starts using many kinds of heavy materials, especially the use of chemical weapon in the city of Aleppo. At the end of point number 4 of the final communique stated that, “…the Syrian regime must be held accountable and the Russian Federation and other states supporting the regime must be held responsible for the continuation of these violations (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 2016).”

In extending its effort on this issue, the OIC also urges the implementation of several United Nations Security Council resolutions that are believed to be potentially significant to stop the overwhelming impact of the Syrian war. This is mentioned in point number 9 of the final communique,

“The meeting called for the implementation of Security Council Resolutions in particular resolutions 2254 and 2268 in order to reinstate the cessation of hostilities in all parts of Syria, and resolutions 2139 and 2191 on the provision of unhindered humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians. It urged Member States and the Humanitarian Department at the General Secretariat as well as civil society organizations active in the humanitarian field, to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to all Syrian refugees and displaced persons and to the countries hosting refugees. (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 2016)”

4. Amnesty International

Among many international organizations involved in the effort of handling the outbreak of Syrian refugees, Amnesty International (a non-profit non-governmental organization) also takes part in this issue. The name of this

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particular NGO is often heard through its campaigns and advocacies that cover almost every issues related to human rights.

In the context of Syrian refugee crisis, the author believes that Amnesty International holds a quiet important role as one of the international NGOs which campaigns and researches have been quite vocal in addressing the said-issue. The way it works its objectives is basically through three steps; research, advocacy and lobbying, campaign and action. In its research entitled “An

International Failure: The Syrian Refugee Crisis” Amnesty international

mentioned several recommendations based on their own research to which are addressed mostly to the governments all around the world (Amnesty International, 2013).

The other thing that Amnesty International do as an NGO to stop the Syrian refugee crisis is by launching several campaigns related to the issue of Syrian refugees. One that becomes the central attention among all things that we have talked about is the rejection towards the incoming Syrian refugees in the U.S. Having that situation occurred, in the fall 2016 it launched a campaign called a global campaign for the protection of refugee and migrants’ rights (RMR) (Amnesty International USA, 2015).

It is indeed, the involvement of many other countries and international organizations in the effort of handling the constantly increasing number of Syrian refugees has been significant, measuring from the programs, policies, and funding they have provided for it. However, this does not close the possibility that there are still some controversies happening in the process which

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may clash with the idea of humanitarian ethics and other normative responses we would usually hear.

Acting as the main actor on this undergraduate thesis title, Canada, in

the author’s perspective, has been showing a worth-explaining response. What becomes the basic of that statement and how (in brief) Canada has been supportively dealing with the issue of Syrian refugee crisis has been explained in the previous chapter. The next chapter will elaborate more on the particular

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CHAPTER III

CANADA’S SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION ON REFUGEES

This chapter will manage to explain three aspects in regards to the Canadian social construction on refugees. The first aspect is, Canada as a destination country for the refugees, second Canada’s response on the Syrian refugee crisis, and third the construction of Canadian identity as a refugee-friendly country.

A. Canada as a Destination for the Refugees

Syrian refugees are not the first one to come to Canada. In accepting refugees, Canada has been known as a country with some remarkable records on it.

Speaking upon Canada’s historical line, there has been groups of refugee coming to

Canada from various countries all around the world. Having that said, this sub-chapter would manage to explain the underlying motivation of the refugees for choosing Canada as their destination country. Based on that result, the author would also attempt to draw a point to conclude the Canadian characteristic towards refugees.

Even though the acceptance of refugees in Canada had begun before 1800’s (the time when there was an escape of thousands black slaves from the United States to the upper part of Canada (Government of Canada, 2015), this part would only explain several related events that had happened within the Canadian history.

The first acceptance of refugees by Canada was started in 1970s when Canada became the host for Latin American refugees. Some Latin Americas countries such as Chile, El Salvador, Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru were said to be the source of the incoming refugees to Canada at that time. A journal entitled

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“Latin American Migration to Canada: New linkage in the hemispheric migration and refugee flow system” by Alan B. Simmons gives a quite detailed explanation on how this process of particular migration can possibly happen (Simmons A. B., 1993). This article explains that the wave of Latin American refugees came in several waves. The two largest waves were marked by the arrival of Chilean refugees in 1970s and Salvadorans in the 1980s to Canada. Others are regarded as relatively small ones. Quantitatively speaking, a statistical data shows that the highest number of Chilean refugees to Canada happened around 1974 to 1980 with 14.846 refugees. Meanwhile, the Salvadorans’ biggest wave to Canada happened around 1986 to 1990 with 16.414 refugees (Simmons A. B., 1993).

These waves of refugees that came from Chile and El Salvador to Canada happened because of the eruption of Central American revolution in the late 1970s. In regards to that, Simmons (1993) also adds that what motivated thousands of Latin Americans (especially for Chileans and Salvadorans) fleeing from their own countries were not the commonly known motivation such as economic, but instead they were “… initiated and sustained largely by flight from dictatorship, state terror,

civil war, and violence. (Simmons A. B., 1993).”

Nevertheless, the reason why Canada became the destination country for Central American refugees is not yet explained. Maria Cristina Garcia in “Canada: A Northern Refuge for Central Americans“, explains a logical flow on how Canada

could appear as a “safe haven” for the Central American refugees (Garcia, 2006). Concluding the points delivered within that article, there are at least two underlying reasons that can lead to the answer according to Garcia. First of all, at the time when the United States and Mexico enacted a more restricted migration

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policy, Canada was doing the other way around by providing humanitarian emergency aid and assistances as well as setting out itself from taking any military-related measure (Garcia, 2006). Second of all, Canada was also affected by the implementation of Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) passed by the U.S. Congress in 1986. Such immigration reform that happened in the U.S. allowed the country to develop some measures to restrict the undocumented migrant issues. As an outcome, Canada had to bear the significant increase of the number of petition for Asylum to which eventually led them to accept about 10.000 Central American refugees in only one year from 1986 to 1987 (Garcia, 2006).

Besides other waves of refugees that happened to come to Canada and are listed in its history of refugee acceptance, the author would also talk about the case of Vietnamese Refugees that came to Canada in around 1975. The cause of this particular refugee crisis was known to be escaping from the war that was happening

in Vietnam, popularly known as the ‘Vietnam War.”

Other sources also explains that the arrival of Vietnamese to Canada was divided into two different waves. In the first wave (that happened) in 1975, most of the number of Vietnamese refugees were dominated by the skilled refugees and/or the middle class Vietnamese who had relatives staying in Canada and acted as their sponsors at that moment. Meanwhile, the second wave (that happened) between 1979 and 1981 consisted of Vietnamese refugees with more varied social backgrounds (Joy, 2013). Following the rise of that crisis, Canada was recognized to be the host for about more than 60.000 Vietnamese refugees by the end of 1980, despite the fact that Joe Clark only announced that Canada would only admit 50.000 Vietnamese refugees a year before that (Government of Canada, 2015).

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With that being said, it is believed that, to some extents, the two cases explained above have shown a point that there is a kind of pattern used by Canada to respond towards the issues of refugee which is by showing and practicing their

‘openness’ to the incoming refugees. That pattern is also believed by the author to

be accountable for the creation of such a remarkable migration policy in the middle of the humanitarian crisis. Besides, the stable economic and political condition in Canada which is relatively way more stable are also believed to be the other factors that make Canada becomes one of the prominent destinations for the refugees.

B. Canada’s Response towards the Syrian Refugee Crisis

The same positive reaction has also been shown by Canada to the case of Syrian refugee crisis that began to escalate since 2011. However, before explaining

how its humanitarian response is being operated and developed in today’s practice,

the author would explain about Canada’s response in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis at the very first occurrence.

Before Canada was fully into optimizing the humanitarian measures to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis, the country was known to be involved in the U.S. led coalition against ISIS. This particular coalition consists of more than 60 countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. It is now called as the U.S. led coalition as it follows the fact that it was agreed on December 2014 after the idea was previously announced by the U.S. President Barrack Obama on September 2014 (McInnis, 2016).

The decision to join the said coalition was actually decided under the administration of Stephen Harper in September 2014 (The Canadian Press, 2016).

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At that time, Canada’s contribution into the coalition was dominantly manifested in

terms of military such as sending air supports as well as troops into the source of conflict.

At that point, the author sees that such response was needed with a specific understanding that ISIS, in the contrary, has been creating armed casualties that put Syrians and other civilians’ life within the region in danger. Therefore, an equal counter-measure was needed to stop that. In the other hand, the author also argues

that Canada’s involvement at that point was necessary to boost up the coalition to

take off, and yet to keep Canada’s international image.

As Canada had its new head of government elected in late 2015, there was some contrast shifts on how the country manifested its contribution towards the coalition against ISIS. The Prime Minister-designate, Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would stop sending support to the airstrike campaign done by the U.S. coalition. As quoted by The Guardian, Justin Trudeau said some words to Barrack Obama following the announcement he made,

“I committed that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how important Canada’s role is to play in the fight against Isil, but he understands the commitments I’ve

made about ending the combat mission (Jacobs, 2015).”

What needs to be understood is that, Canada’s withdrawal was not to

devalue its own commitment on fighting the ISIS. But instead, in the author’s

interpretation, what Canada had decided on behalf of the announcement was to shift the way its commitment is being practiced into more “Canadian way.” One thing

that can support the author’s interpretation in regards to the previous point was the

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a pledge to resettle 25.000 Syrian refugees along with approximately 250 million Canadian dollars investment specifically set for the purpose of Syrian refugees resettlement process (Walker T. , 2015).

Departing from that point, Canada finally ended its entire airstrike campaign with the coalition by February 22, 2016. Reported by CBC News, the statement was articulated by the Canadian Defense Minister Hajrit Sajjan at the moment when Canada pulled out its entire CF – 18 jet fighters from their last mission in Syrian and Iraqi territories (Watters, 2016).

Now that we know, there is a significant change of treatment on how Canada deals with the issue of Syrian refugee crisis. Putting ahead the idea of humanitarian aid is basically what Canada posts up when it comes to a question about the new measure taken as the replacement for the former one.

Up to this point, the author understands that the concept “purposive actor” which is mentioned in one of the Wendt’s tenets can actually be referred to the Canadian (the society), merely because they are the one who is absorbing the identity (to be exact, the Canadian identity) as the final outcome from such shared ideas and they are also the one who becomes the main composing unit of the society. It does not close the argument, however, that state can also be considered as purposive actor, as Wendt said in retrospect , “I shall argue that states are also purposive actors with a sense of Self “states are people too'' and that this affects the nature of the

international system (Wendt, 1999).”

Such argument works accordingly with the facts in the field. The pledge of new Canadian government comes not only as a form of empty political promise. As mentioned in the first chapter, December 10, 2015 was marked as the point where

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that political promise came into being as the first 150 Syrian refugees landed in

Toronto through the Canada’s refugee resettlement program. Beyond the first

milestone that Canada had in its effort on resettling Syrian refugees, the aspect that interests the author to explain is about the development of the program itself.

To relate more on that, Canada is known as the oldest country to implement the private sponsorship program for refugees since 1978 (Kumin, 2015). To put it into a comparison, commonly, the burden of responsibility to resettle refugees is obligated and concentrated to the national government level, or so most of the discursions would say, especially in terms of funding. That makes the private sponsorship for refugees, at least in the author’s point of view, a good anomaly that occurs in refugee resettlement program.

After Canada, there has been several countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia who show their interest in implementing the same program in their countries. Technically speaking, the private sponsorship program allows the refugees to have permanent resident status in Canada. That being said, the refugees are also allowed to look for jobs available in Canada as well as to become the sponsors for their own family to come to Canada. The refugees would also be financially supported by the private sponsors for 12 months. Moreover, Canadian Immigration Minister, John McCallum, told the media that there have been around 13 countries studying this model (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2014; Raj, 2016).

According to the statistical data gathered by the government of Canada, there has been 35.745 Syrian refugees admitted to and have arrived in Canada by November 27, 2016. Up to the moment the data is last presented, the private

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sponsorship program is known to have contributed on resettling 13.260 Syrian refugees. That happens to be the second highest category after the government sponsored program which had resettled 18.863 refugees and then followed by the blended visa office-referred program with 3.622 Syrian refugees (Government of Canada, 2016).

We can see that Canada has been showing a consistent response towards the issue of refugee crisis. What the country has been doing to the Syrian refugees is pretty much reflected on their own history that Canada is a refugee-friendly country. However, the process of how Canadian societies form a collective consciousness like so is not yet answered. The next sub-chapter would manage to answer that.

C. Canada’s Social Construction towards Refugee

Explained in the previous part that Canada’s response towards the Syrian

refugee crisis has been showing a consistently positive response similar to what they did on the other cases of refugee crisis that ever involved the presence of the country in it. What has not been explained is the process of how Canada sees the humanitarian issue as something crucial for its identity. This particular part of the chapter would manage to explain about the process of Canada’s social construction towards refugees.

With respect to the other perspectives, arguments, and findings that have

existed out there, this paper would argue that Canada’s social construction towards

refugees in general has been dominantly shaped by its own history. Later will be explained that as Canada, from time to time, keeps practicing the similar response, its historical value has also been strengthened by the establishment of legal

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frameworks they develop as well as by the international recognitions and achievements.

Surprisingly, although Canada’s generosity and leadership on humanitarian issues are known as its national “branding”, William Schabas explains that, in the

early drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (next will be referred

to UDHR) Canada’s stance was rather hesitant than what it is today. Stated by

Schabas, that point was proven by the abstain vote of Canada on the preliminary vote for the UDHR in Paris, France. At that moment, Canada was the only country who voted for abstain besides the Soviet-bloc (Schabas, 1998).

With that being said, the abstention was, indeed, an astonishing call to the international community at that time. The Canada’s abstain on the preliminary vote of the UDHR itself was said to be motivated by some disagreement towards a certain point contained by the Declaration which is somewhat contradictory to the provincial and federal laws that are implemented in Canada. However, Canada finally voted in favor on the final draft of the Declaration on 10 December 1948 after, Schabas describes, Canada was able to readjust its policy on it (Schabas, 1998).

As stated above, the author argues that the Canada’s social construction towards refugees has been driven by, one of them, its historical value. To that extent, the author would borrow the idea of Andrew Lui about the construction of Canadian identity through a constructivist view. In the book entitled “Why Canada Cares”, Lui in part describes the default setting of Canada as “…physically vast, culturally

diverse, and historically contested (Lui, 2012).” That statement signifies that

Canada actually possesses three of potentially sources of problem within its structure of society.

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Lui then puts it into a context that the factors such as colonialism and other waves of immigration to Canada have made some fractions among the disparate provinces and territories in Canada. The fact is connected by Lui into one of the most vulnerable province in Canada called Quebec, a province in Canada’s federal system which was known to have the issue of separatist and growing terrorist networks (Lui, 2012).

The most essential impact of the said emergence was dominantly disrupting the political stability in Canada which was reflected through an incident called the October Crisis 1970, the kidnapping and assassination of Canadian politician Pierre Laporte by a homegrown terrorist organization called Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). Moreover, the FLQ was also responsible for kidnapping a British diplomat James Cross. Such incident happened due to the idea of movement to establish the notion of an independent Québec (Clément, 2008). For that reason, Canada was somewhat considered facing a state of emergency.

In response to that, Canadian government under Pierre Trudeau at that time invoked a policy called the War Measures Act (WMA) with the consideration to give assistance to the police who was quite occupied with the situation and needed some reinforcements. Clément explained, the enforcement of WMA lasted for about two

months (roughly until December 3, 1970) after the Cross’ kidnappers were finally flown to Cuba as part of the exchange deal, and Laporte’s killers got were arrested (Clément, 2008).

The constructivist approach was presented in a way that when the WMA was called off, what appeared to be the next Canadian government approach was not to actually embrace the “black” record within the history of diversity in Canada,

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instead, the government of Canada came with the idea of institutionalizing the notion of human rights in order to balance the potentially dangerous fragments within Canadian society (Lui, Why Canada Cares: human rights and foreign policy in theory and practice, 2012).

Generally, the author sees that Canadian government had taken a correct countermeasure in regards to the said problem in a way that fragmentation and/or the emergence of separatist groups within the structure of society is mostly generated by the different views between some groups of the society (regardless of what they are) that are often, at the same time, contested (if not accommodated) by the authority of the ruling government. Furthermore on the Canadian government’s decision over the notion of human rights, Lui describes that,

“…human rights thus became a source of legitimacy from which the

federal government could assert its authority by externally projecting a particular self-image of Canada as a just society that was undivided

despite its diversity (Lui, 2012).”

So what was meant by institutionalizing was the fact that in 1977, the parliament of Canada established a statute called Canadian Human Rights Act whose function is to protect and make sure the equality in terms of opportunity of every Canadians. It is also to sat that every individual should be free from any kinds of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, color, political/religious belief, race, marital status, and some other things based on individual basis (Government of Canada, 2014).

By the very implementation, Canadians are now having a legal basis to react upon any discrimination on the said basis. Not only did it cover people’s individual

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life, the act did also cover the people’s social life such as within the area of

employment.

The other legal basis that the author sees as important to talk about in terms of protecting minority rights is the establishment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which also forms the beginning part of Constitution Act 1982). This charter basically protects several rights of Canadians ranging from fundamental freedom, democratic rights, mobility rights as well as legal rights. Part of this charter also ensures the existence of minority rights in terms of minority language educational rights and the rights of aboriginal people in Canada (Government of Canada, 1982).

Furthermore, the value of multiculturalism in Canada is also enacted in Canadian Multiculturalism Act (also known as Bill C-93). This act admits some points emphasizing on the importance keeping the ties in the diverse Canadian society. One important point mentioned in the policy is;

(a) recognize and promote the understanding that multiculturalism reflects the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society and acknowledges the freedom of all members of Canadian society to preserve, enhance and share their cultural heritage (Government of Canada, 2014);

It is believed that in this case, the concept of “structure of human association” which was also mentioned as one of Wendt’s tenets of constructivism can actually

be referred into the idea of Canada’s multiculturalism. It is argued so, because the main interaction which happens in the context of Canadian society which also specifically relates to the topic discussed is culminated on how they accept the social facts throughout the events that have happened along its own history.

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Such argument seems to be strengthened by the statement made by the head of

Canada’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee at that time, Ralph Maybank. Upon the concern of minority-rights, Maybank stated an important point that emphasized the value of multiculturalism in Canada. As quoted by Schabas, Maybank said,

“I can say quite confidently that for Canada the problem of minorities, regarded in either of these two ways, does not exist; that is to say it is not pre-set in the sense that there is discontent. In the first place, Canada is a country made up of English speaking and French speaking Canadians, and I trust by the very use of these words I am making clear that neither of these groups falls in the category of a "minority" referred to in these draft resolutions. These two peoples, who comprise the greatest number of Canadian citizens, carry on their lives and activities with complete amity one towards the other, and each has its own language and makes use of its own educational facilities and contributes its own cultural tradition to our country (Schabas, 1998).”

In line with Maybank, the current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also stresses the same point on the significance of multiculturalism in Canadian society. As quoted from the official website of Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau states the following during the celebration of Canada’s multiculturalism day,

“Our roots reach out to every corner of the globe. We are from far and wide, and speak over 200 languages. Our national fabric is vibrant and varied, woven together by many cultures and heritages, and underlined by a core value of respect. Multiculturalism is our strength, as synonymous with Canada as the Maple Leaf (Trudeau, Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on Multiculturalism Day, 2016).”

“Today, let us celebrate multiculturalism as a vital component of our national fabric, and let us express gratitude to Canadians of all backgrounds who have made, and who continue to make, such

valuable contributions to our country (Trudeau, Statement by the

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