Refugee system in Canada has been modified!

Ottawa curbing bids for asylum via the U.S.
'Radical move' criticized by refugee advocates
July 25, 2009
Nicholas Keung / Source: TheStar.com


Effective today, Canada will stop letting in asylum seekers from some of the world's most volatile and dangerous countries if the would-be refugees first landed in the United States.

Refugee claimants from Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe – countries that have so-called temporary suspension of removal (TSR) status due to their volatile political conditions – will no longer be able to come to Canada from the United States and then seek asylum, unless they have family already here.

Until now, an exemption had been allowed under the bilateral Safe Third Country Agreement that bans people from making asylum claims in both countries.

The new rule takes effect just as Ottawa is removing Burundi, Liberia and Rwanda from the list of countries deemed too dangerous for failed asylum seekers to be returned. There are about 4,000 people in Canada protected under the TSR list, half of them from the delisted countries.

In a statement, Canada Border Services Agency said the three countries were removed due to improved conditions there.

Those nationals now facing removal from Canada can try to remain here on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

In announcing the removal of the exemption relating to the Safe Third Country Agreement, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the goal is to improve the asylum system.

"The objective of the Safe Third Country Agreement is to allow both Canada and the U.S. to handle refugee claims in an orderly manner, reduce the possibility of multiple claims and share the responsibility for providing protection to those in need," he said. "This exception was undermining those objectives and therefore the integrity of our asylum system."

The changes have caught off guard refugee advocates, who say government officials usually inform them prior to such announcements.

"This is a radical move. The government is slamming its doors on refugee claimants," said Rick Goldman of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

These changes come on the heels of new visa restrictions placed on Mexican and Czech citizens last week.

Activists said the visa requirements, along with the amendments to the moratorium list and Safe Third Country Agreement, could deny 14,000 asylum seekers a year – 40 per cent of the 35,000 refugee claimants who arrived in Canada in 2008 – from accessing the refugee determination system.