[LINK] "Czechs want visa answers"
The recent decision of the Canadian government to require visa of visitors from Mexico and the Czech Republic, on the grounds that these countries produce too many refugees, has not be welcomed at all by the Czechs and Mexicans.
The Czech Republic's ambassador to Canada will fly out of the country this afternoon partly in protest and partly to plot his country's reaction to new visa restrictions on Czech visitors to Canada, the embassy in Ottawa says.
Ambassador Karel Zebrakovsky will be leaving less than 24 hours after Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the federal government will attempt to stop what it sees as an unacceptable number of refugee claimants from both the Czech Republic and Mexico, with new visa requirements that go into effect at midnight tomorrow.
In Prague, where Canada thinks thousands of the Roma minority have been launching fraudulent refugee claims, the reaction was fierce.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer branded the restrictions a "unilateral and unfriendly step." He was speaking after an emergency government meeting to discuss the new visa requirements, Reuters reported.
[. . .]
In retaliation, the Czech government will require Canadian diplomats and civil servants to obtain visas before entering the country on official business, he said. But Prague is powerless to place visa requirements on all Canadian visitors to the country because it is a member of the European Union and must harmonize immigration policies with all of the 27 member countries.
Czech diplomats will also begin raising the Canadian visa problems with the European Commission in a bid to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
[. . .]
The restrictions on Mexican visitors to Canada could have even greater economic ramifications.
Mexican asylum claims make up one quarter of all applications that Canada receives, the government says. But tourism and business trips from that country to Canada have also been on the rise.
The tourism industry is urging the federal government to delay the visa requirement for Mexican visitors until Nov. 15.
A group of hotels, restaurants and tour operators from Ontario and Quebec that rely on business with Mexico said the government's move came without advance warning and in the middle of a recession.
"This has blindsided our industry," Hume Rogers, general manager of Capital Hill Hotel and Suites, told reporters in Ottawa.
Carlo Dade, executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, said the government's decision didn't offer any exceptions for the growing number of Mexican business travellers, or the possibility of a program to pre-clear frequent visitors such as that which Canada has with the U.S.
The Czech Republic's ambassador to Canada will fly out of the country this afternoon partly in protest and partly to plot his country's reaction to new visa restrictions on Czech visitors to Canada, the embassy in Ottawa says.
Ambassador Karel Zebrakovsky will be leaving less than 24 hours after Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the federal government will attempt to stop what it sees as an unacceptable number of refugee claimants from both the Czech Republic and Mexico, with new visa requirements that go into effect at midnight tomorrow.
In Prague, where Canada thinks thousands of the Roma minority have been launching fraudulent refugee claims, the reaction was fierce.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer branded the restrictions a "unilateral and unfriendly step." He was speaking after an emergency government meeting to discuss the new visa requirements, Reuters reported.
[. . .]
In retaliation, the Czech government will require Canadian diplomats and civil servants to obtain visas before entering the country on official business, he said. But Prague is powerless to place visa requirements on all Canadian visitors to the country because it is a member of the European Union and must harmonize immigration policies with all of the 27 member countries.
Czech diplomats will also begin raising the Canadian visa problems with the European Commission in a bid to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
[. . .]
The restrictions on Mexican visitors to Canada could have even greater economic ramifications.
Mexican asylum claims make up one quarter of all applications that Canada receives, the government says. But tourism and business trips from that country to Canada have also been on the rise.
The tourism industry is urging the federal government to delay the visa requirement for Mexican visitors until Nov. 15.
A group of hotels, restaurants and tour operators from Ontario and Quebec that rely on business with Mexico said the government's move came without advance warning and in the middle of a recession.
"This has blindsided our industry," Hume Rogers, general manager of Capital Hill Hotel and Suites, told reporters in Ottawa.
Carlo Dade, executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, said the government's decision didn't offer any exceptions for the growing number of Mexican business travellers, or the possibility of a program to pre-clear frequent visitors such as that which Canada has with the U.S.