I would probably lie in THIS case but then the situation is a little bit more dire isn't it. When marrying someone to get them in the country in order to save them from persecution its not an instantaneous "lie or die" scenario. Obviously the process would take much longer than the situation you are describing here and given that more time would have to be taken in the marital "life saving" situation then i guess that time could also be used to take the proper steps to avoid persecution. If you want to come to canada to avoid persecution you don't have to marry someone...you have to claim refugee status.
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I really feel quite strongly about this.
If you are being persecuted - you may not Have the opportunity to claim refugee status in a place that will rescue you. Especially in wartorn areas. For example... The people in Syria at the moment - when the current Government collapses it is quite likely that the Christians there along with other minority groups will be heavily persecuted... If they apply somewhere for refugee status the process may be too slow to save them, or may not even be available.
It really frustrates me - is applying for refugee status the correct thing to do - yes, it is, but it isn't always practical and in addition to this.
The process for taking in refugees isn't always brilliant and can take a long time! I've heard stories about people who have been in these sort of camps for years and years and years, this really isn't acceptable and I wouldn't say that these camps are the safest places, if you can even get to one.
I feel like in the west sometimes we expect things to be very orderly, processed calm and safe, as long as things are done in the proper way. This really just isn't the case, the very fact that there are wars in these countries demonstrates how broken the societies these people come from can be. And the western process for accepting refugees isn't always good enough!