North Korean people and soldiers attend a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on April 20, 2012. (REUTERS/KCNA)

More North Korean refugees likely to eye Canada
By Daniel Proussalidis ,Parliamentary Bureau
First posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 03:01 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 06:42 PM EDT
North Korean people and soldiers attend a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on April 20, 2012. (REUTERS/KCNA)

OTTAWA – Immigration authorities are preparing for ever-increasing numbers of refugee claimants from North Korea.

“The flow of North Korean defectors to the Republic of Korea has recently turned from a trickle to a flood,” said Canadian immigration officials in a January assessment obtained through an access-to-information request by immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.

The documents indicate that between 2007 and 2010 around 10,000 people escaped the communist dictatorship in the north to seek refuge in the south.

Melissa Holman of the Temporary Foreign Workers Association of Canada faces fraud and theft charges.

Immigrant adviser faces fraud charges
New arrival from Japan says she lost life savings
By Meghan Potkins and Clara Ho, Calgary Herald June 13, 2012

Melissa Holman of the Temporary Foreign Workers Association of Canada faces fraud and theft charges.

CALGARY — When Fusako Kametani uprooted her life in Japan to come to Canada with her daughter three years ago, she never imagined she’d see her life savings evaporate in mere months.

The sense of security she had when she arrived is now gone.

“People look friendly but (they’re) not. I feel like I can’t trust anybody,” she said.

The 55-year-old said she handed over nearly all of her cash and property — worth more than $2 million — to an immigration consultant who convinced the single mother that her assets could be seized, or worse, that she could be deported.

A Calgary woman who leads a non-profit agency that assists newcomers to Canada is now facing multiple counts of fraud.

Melissa Holman, 40, president and founder of the Temporary Foreign Workers Association of Canada, has been charged with five counts of fraud over $5,000 and five counts of theft over $5,000.