Because of a Canada-U.S. agreement, ‘refugee’ claimants must apply in the country of their first arrival; however, many in the U.S. are now afraid they will lose their hearing {the U.S. is much more strict in its screening than Canada} and are leaving for Canada. If they legally arrive at a border point, they are told they must return to the U.S., but if they illegally cross the border, “the asylum seekers can receive legal aid and social assistance while making a ‘refugee’ claim”.
If that isn’t bad enough,
“80 to 90% of the people who are denied asylum in the United States do end up winning their ‘refugee’ claim before the ‘Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’.”
Oh, Canada…
“Although refugees who {legally} arrive at regulated border crossings from the U.S. are turned back due to a Canada-U.S. agreement, immigration lawyers say those who {illegally} sneak across unregulated crossings can expect to have their cases heard in Canada.”
“It’s not just rural Manitoba that has experienced a surge in asylum seekers illegally crossing the border from United States. In fact, an RCMP official says Quebec has experienced the biggest influx.
“RCMP Cpl. Camille Habel said Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia have all experienced an increase in recent months,
“but the largest increase has been seen in Quebec.”
“The number of refugee claimants in Quebec hit 593 in December and there were 452 in January, up from 74 in Dec. 2014, according to the ‘Canadian Border Services Agency’.
“In Manitoba, 403 were recorded in 2016, up from 252 in 2015. At least 82 more have crossed into the province since Jan.1…
“One common entry point is near Hemmingford, Que., where RCMP are stationed around the clock warning people that it is illegal to cross and detaining those who do.
“Police typically run criminal background checks {in Somalia?} on those detained and then release them for an interview with CBSA. The asylum seekers can receive legal aid and social assistance while making a refugee claim {Their reward for illegally crossing the border}.
“Pierre Sigoin, who has lived near the Quebec-U.S. border for nearly 15 years, says he’s never seen anything like it. There is family after family emerging from the woods dragging luggage, he said…
“Janet Dench, from the ‘Canadian Council for Refugees’, said that many of those illegally crossing are doing so because
“for some refugees, the U.S. is not a ‘safe country’ and the situation has gotten much more ‘dangerous’ and uncertain since the Trump administration.”
“Many of the refugee claimants are from Somalia, which was one of seven Muslim-majority nations whose citizens were briefly banned from entering the U.S. due to Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order…
“Bashir Khan, a Winnipeg immigration lawyer, told ‘CTV News Channel’ on Thursday,
“In my experience, 80 to 90% of the people who are denied asylum in the United States do end up winning their refugee claim before the ‘Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’.” {!?! How soft are we?}
–‘Quebec sees ‘biggest increase’ in asylum seekers’,
Josh Dehaas, CTV News, February 11, 2017
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-sees-biggest-increase-in-asylum-seekers-1.3281406
“For a family of asylum seekers from Sudan, the path into Canada on Friday morning was a long, windswept road 60 kilometres south of Montreal.
“It led past warning signs that the territory of the United States was ending… On the other side, three RCMP officers waited to arrest the parents and three children.
“You cannot cross from here. It’s illegal. You will be arrested”, a female Mountie warned from the Canadian side of border.
“It’s not a problem”, the father of three replied in halting English.
“You’ve been told. It’s illegal and you will be arrested, and all your family will be arrested”, the officer said again.
“She was firm, but she appeared to be reciting a well-rehearsed line. Both actors knew their roles well.
“O.K.”, the man said, handing himself over for arrest….
“The family was one of three groups that the ‘Star’ witnessed illegally crossing the border into Canada on Friday. But they were just another handful in what immigration lawyers, border-town officials and refugee service providers say is a significant spike in asylum seekers who are attempting to circumvent the 2004 ‘Safe Third Country Agreement’, a deal between Canada and the United States that forces claimants to make their demand with the first country in which they arrive.
“It was a measure intended to ease the processing of refugee claimants in both countries…
{But Canada is no longer complying with it…}
“…what has been playing out over the last few months at the foot of a dead-end road in this small town illustrates just how well organized the movement of people really is.
“For the Sudanese family who stumbled across the border Friday morning, it was an awkward march as they lugged their six suitcases, two purses, two backpacks and three plastic ‘J.C. Penney’ bags into Canada…
“Airline luggage tags indicated that they had flown out of Doha, Qatar on Monday of this week and arrived in Washington the following day, Feb. 7.
“Somewhere along the route, it appeared that they had picked up brand new winter coats, boots, gloves and hats…
“Under the ‘Safe Third Country Agreement’, only those asylum seekers who have family already living in Canada or those who have already been refused refugee status in the United States will be considered for asylum if they show up at Canadian land border posts.
“But those who cross illegally are exploiting a loophole in the law — the conditions of the Safe Third Country Agreement do not apply to people who are already in Canada when they make a claim for asylum…
“In 2016, there were 2,529 asylum claims made at Quebec’s land border crossings, according to statistics from the agency. That figure averages out to 211 claimants each month.
“But the numbers started to climb dramatically this fall. There were 289 refugee claimants in October, 369 in November and 591 in December.
“The ‘Canada Border Service Agency’ will not reveal how many asylum seekers are crossing into Canada illegally… {???}
“They don’t even try to hide. They want to be picked up by the RCMP,”
said François Doré, a retired police officer with the ‘Sûreté du Québec’, who lives on Roxham Rd., not far from the American border.
“Handfield and Taillefer, the immigration lawyers, both say there is strong evidence that people are relying on smugglers to get them out of their home countries and up to the Canadian border…”
–‘Is Trump’s refugee crackdown threat pushing asylum seekers into Canada?’,
Allan Woods, Toronto Star, Feb. 10, 2017
“Hundreds of refugees have entered Manitoba near the Emerson border crossing in an attempt to get asylum in Canada over the last year…
“The ‘Canada Border Services Agency’ (CBSA) said 410 refugee claimants have been intercepted near the Emerson port of entry while crossing into Canada between April 1, 2016 and Dec. 8, 2016.
“Individuals attempting an illegal border crossing are intercepted by the RCMP and brought to the Emerson border crossing, where they can make a refugee claim, said Jacquie Callin, a CBSA spokeswoman.
{So, no punishment for “attempting an illegal border crossing”…}
“The majority of refugees entering near Emerson are from Somalia…”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/refugees-emerson-border-manitoba-1.3923747
“Omar Jamal is the executive director of the ‘Somali Community of Minnesota’, and for months now, he has seen people whose U.S. asylum claims have been rejected end up in Minneapolis, home to one of the largest Somali communities in the country.
“From there, they make arrangements to sneak into Canada, where they can file refugee claims…”
“Over the weekend, RCMP said, 22 people crossed the border near Emerson, about 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg — 19 on Saturday and three on Sunday…
“The number of asylum seekers crossing the Canada-U.S. border into Manitoba on foot instead of through official crossings has drastically increased in the last few months…
“Trump’s order has prompted ‘many’ {some} people in Canada — advocates, students, professors, politicians — to urge the federal government to scrap or at least suspend its ‘Safe Third Country Agreement’ with the United States.
“Under the agreement, which came into effect in 2004, individuals seeking protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in — either Canada or the U.S.
“That requires Canada to send back to the U.S. any claimants entering Canada via its land border with the U.S., based on the premise that the U.S. is a safe country where they can make asylum claims.
{A legally-binding agreement that is now being ignored by Canadian border authorities…}
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/22-refugees-enter-manitoba-1.3969874
“In the past three months, ‘Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council’ staff said they have met with more than 80 applicants looking to open refugee files. The normal number for an entire year is 50 to 60.
“The council opened 10 new files on Monday alone, executive director Rita Chahal said, noting that most claimants came from Djibouti, while a few are from Somalia and one is from Eritrea.
“Eight walked over the border, while two others entered the country at the Niagara border crossing in Ontario…
“They’re arriving in a variety of ways. Many of them are walking through fields and finding other ways to get in; not stopping at the border…”
“…the majority of refugee claimants are concerned about their safety in the U.S., and specifically afraid of deportations…”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/refugee-border-crossing-manitoba-1.3959558
“…he left his family behind in August, 2014 and paid smugglers to take him to Ethiopia, Brazil, Central America and eventually to the United States.
“When he made it to American soil, he spent six months in a detention centre. Denied refugee status, Samatar made his way north to the Canada-U.S. border in North Dakota in August, 2015…
“At about 6 a.m. on Aug. 5, he stood at the Red River, looking across into Manitoba. He stripped down, jumped in and swam across…
{And now, he’s been rewarded for his illegal entry into Canada}:
“Yahya Samatar, the Somali man who swam across the Red River from North Dakota to Manitoba, is allowed to stay in Canada as a “protected person” and cannot be deported, ruled an adjudicator today.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/somali-seeks-refugee-status-1.3250029
“Three Somali asylum seekers who tried to enter Canada by foot in the wee hours of Tuesday morning were unsuccessful in their bid to reach Canada after they were caught by U.S. border officials and the local sheriff…”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/somali-asylum-seekers-pembina-1.3977534
“If a large group of ‘refugees’ cross the border again, the CBSA will rent Emerson’s community hall to house them…
“RCMP say they are adding resources along the border near Emerson, but it’s not the responsibility of the police to stop border jumpers.
“People leaving the United States is not a criminal act,” said RCMP media relations officer Tara Seel.”
{But to enter Canada illegally, is… What a stupid remark!}
“It is, however, the RCMP’s responsibility to screen individuals caught after they have crossed the border, she said.”
{They wouldn’t be “caught” if they weren’t doing something illegal…}
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/emerson-refugee-meeting-manitoba-1.3973507
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Canadians For Legal Equality 