Yahoo! Canada wrote:Mexican visa decision throws tourists, Canadian industry into panic
By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Mexican travellers and the Canadian tourism industry that serves them were sent into panic mode Tuesday after the sudden announcement of a new visa requirement for visitors from that country.
The visa requirement was also applied to citizens entering Canada from the Czech Republic, after a two-year reprieve. Both decisions were based on a growing number of refugee claims.
The Czech government responded by recalling its ambassador to Canada and imposing visa requirements on Canadian diplomats and business travellers
But it was the Mexican visa requirement, announced by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney late Monday, that's causing the most waves.
Mexico was the sixth-largest source of tourists to Canada last year, with 266,000 visitors, and the numbers had been steadily increasing.
Finding a Mexican visiting Parliament Hill, for example, is as easy as tuning in to Spanish chatter around the Peace Tower or the Eternal Flame.
"This has been a difficult year for our country," said Larissa Montiel of Mexico City, part of a group of high school teachers visiting for a month.
"There's the swine flu, and people shutting their doors to us, and now these immigration problems. It's sad for us."
Miriam Llorete was visiting her brother, who works for the Canadian government.
"It's one more thing that you need to do, so it's going to be hard to come and visit you," said Llorete, who came with her daughter and mother from Mazatlan.
Tour operators, hotel owners and other Canadian businesses that depend on Mexican tourism described the decision as a "bomb" that would affect both their revenues and their staffing levels.
The industry is calling on the Conservative government to delay the visa requirement until November, to allow it to cope with the change.
Hume Rogers of Ottawa's Capital Hotel and Suites had 25 rooms booked for 10 days this month with a Mexican tour group.
"What really hurts about this is that there was no warning at all ... and all of a sudden, basically the day the doors were supposed to open on the beginning of the peak season, they're being shut in our face a little bit."
But Mexico is also the largest source of refugee claims in Canada - 9,400 last year, with only 11 per cent deemed legitimate.
Kenney said in an interview that there has already been a 50 per cent rise in claims in 2009.
He blamed the claims on unscrupulous operatives in Mexico who charge for advice on how to successfully launch a refugee claim in Canada.
"We regret the decision ourselves. We'd rather have visa-free travel, and Mexico is an important partner and friend of Canada's," Kenney said.
"However the reality is that even though we've had ongoing discussions with the Mexican authorities over this problem, it's gotten worse not better."
Refugee advocates slammed the decision, saying it would block people who are fleeing life-threatening situations in both Mexico and the Czech Republic. Human rights organizations continue to document persecution and systemic discrimination of the Roma minority in the Czech Republic.
Geraldine MacDonald, president of the Refugee Lawyers Association, said the government has been slow to fill vacancies on the Immigration and Refugee Board, making it the real architect of an application backlog.
"To take this action against these two countries specifically on the grounds that there is a high volume of refugee claims from these countries is contrary to the human rights principles and sense of justice that Canada stands for," MacDonald said in a statement.
In Mexico City, people with plans to visit Canadian cities this summer flooded the Canadian Embassy and their travel agents with calls, trying to figure out what they needed to do to get their documents on time. A 48-hour grace period for Mexicans with imminent travel was to expire at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday.
A source with Citizenship and Immigration said the embassy had established two lines for dealing with the hundreds who had showed up to inquire about the visa applications - one to hand out forms and the other to receive filled out packages and the $85 cheques.
The process was being expedited for people with imminent travel plans, seasonal workers and students. The government plans to begin an advertising campaign to bring Mexicans up to speed on the change, and open visa offices in other cities.
Carla Rosa, director of GrupoTravel's head office in Mexico City, called the situation a "mess," saying that many clients were vacationing outside of the capital or country and were not in a position to suddenly apply for a visa.
"There's a lot of uncertainty and people are upset," said Rosa. "It surprised all of us, and there are passengers who had been considering tour packages to Canada who are now deciding they shouldn't bother."
Retaliation:
CBC.ca wrote:Mexico slaps visa requirements on Canadian diplomats
Mexico has retaliated against Canada for imposing visa restrictions, saying Canadian officials and diplomats will need visas to enter Mexico.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa made the announcement Thursday during trilateral talks in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
She said Mexico would not force Canadian tourists — who number 1.3 million a year and are vital to the Mexican economy — to get visas to visit.
"We stated with a great deal of respect, but also very firmly, that we were in disagreement with this measure, that it was our opinion that this is not something that is going to help to resolve the problem that Canada’s trying to solve," Espinosa said.
Ottawa announced earlier this week that travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic will need visas to enter Canada because of skyrocketing rates of refugee claimants from the two countries.
Czech officials promptly recalled their ambassador and applied visa restrictions on Canadian diplomats. They also urged the European Union to require visas from Canadians entering all 27 EU countries.
Cannon said the visa requirement on Mexicans entering Canada will remain in place until the two countries can work out a way to lower the number of unfounded refugee claims.
The numbers of "people seeking refugee status are unduly high. We are in a position where we need to look at and find solutions," Cannon said.
Kenney on the case
Cannon said senior officials from Mexico and Canada, including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and his Mexican counterpart, will be working together to "find a way to eventually lift the visa requirement."
"From now until such time as that occurs, we have to be able to straighten this out," he said.
When asked whether the government was surprised by the outcry surrounding the decision, Cannon said Canada is "not looking for difficulties with our allies."
"We reached an unacceptable level. We had to intervene and act," he said. "Canada acted according to what it needs to do."
He praised the "strong and productive" relationship Canada has with Mexico, saying "relations far supersede the elements of visa requirements."
Espinosa also said she is hopeful an end to the diplomatic spat could be reached quickly.
1,300 visas issued
Hundreds of people have been lining up outside the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City to apply for visas since the requirement was announced.
Jose Herran-Lima, a minister-counsellor with the Canadian Embassy, said officials issued about 1,300 visas over the past two days. About 4,000 people have inquired at the embassy, he said.
"The atmosphere is calm. People are very orderly," he said. "We realize that… this is high season for Mexicans going to Canada.
"Our immigration officers… have done an outstanding job in trying to issue visas in what I call a first-serve basis so the people that are leaving sooner are getting attended first," he said. "That has been very successful."
Mexico is the No. 1 source of refugee claims to Canada, with the number almost tripling to more than 9,400 since 2005, the Immigration Department said in a release Monday. The figure represents one-quarter of all claims made. About 90 per cent of the claims are rejected.
The Czech Republic ranks second with nearly 3,000 refugee claims filed since the visa requirement for visitors from that country was lifted in October 2007. That compares with fewer than five claims in 2006, the department said.
What's more interesting is the way it was implemented by the Canadian government. Canada only has one embassy in Mexico, and no consulates. This means that all the Mexicans that had to travel to Canada and already had plane tickets and/or business plans had to clog the Embassy's only office in charge of handing the new visas. Plus, they only had ONE person in charge, who didn't even speak Spanish. Compare to the US' Embassy and THREE consulates (in Guadfalajara, Ciudad Juárez and Monterrey), which have over 150 windows to take care of people applying for visas and other affairs.
As somebody said, regarding the way it was carried out on Canada's end: "This was handled in such a Third World-style. Not something you'd expect from Canada".
But, regarding Canada's position, it is true that they've been receiving far too many refugee claims (they can't understand that sometimes even people who work for law enforcement agencies may be out to get you here) and it is a fact that there are even companies that thrive on the business of assisting Mexicans who just want to migrate to Canada -for other reasons- place such claims.
Also, one of my students had plans to go to Canada to work. He says this is just a minor detail, for Mexicans -who are particularly skilled at circumventing red tape- since he can easily have some friends provide any papers needed to get the visa, and then he plans on getting lost as soon as he's off the airport. If such a strategy proves effective, it would be just another case of much ado about nothing.
So... what's your opinion?
