Lawyer associations across the country are calling on the Canadian government to pull out of a border agreement made with the United States that prevents US-based refugees from seeking asylum at the US-Canada border, or at either of the country’s airports.
Both the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers (AQAADI) released statements Monday arguing for the immediate withdrawal of Canada from the Safe Third Countries Agreement (STCA)—a piece of border policy signed by both the US and Canada after 9/11 that forces refugees to make their claim for refuge in the “first safe country.”
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What this means, essentially, is that US refugees—if denied their claim in the US—are not able to try their luck at the Canadian border or at connecting airports. This was to prevent deportees from escaping to Canada—a scenario that now is an incredibly real possibility under President Donald Trump’s new executive orders on immigration, the association’s claim.
“The United States is clearly not a safe place for refugee claimants under the President’s executive order,” Josh Paterson, executive director of the BCCLA, said in a statement. “If Canada ships refugee claimants back to the United States, the United States has made clear that it will refuse their claims. Sending asylum-seekers back to the U.S. will put Canada in breach of its legal obligations under the Refugee Convention. Canada cannot respect international law and continue in this agreement with the United States at the same time.”
“We call on the federal government to suspend the Safe Third Country agreement effective immediately.”
The call comes amid increasing pressure from both Ottawa politicians and Canadian activists/lawyers on Justin Trudeau’s administration to take a firmer stance against President Trump’s aggressive immigration policy. Since last week, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has been relentless in trying to get Trudeau to publically denounce Trump’s hateful rhetoric and policy decisions.
Trudeau, when questioned about Trump’s increasingly-aggressive stance on immigrants and refugees, has deferred to focusing on Canada’s role in taking care of the world’s weakest.
“We are a strong, united people, who are generous and open because we have seen how much openness to the world and diversity not only makes us more prosperous, but more safe as a country and as communities,” Trudeau said during Monday’s Question Period. “I will continue to stand for Canadian values any chance I get, in this House and everywhere.”
Last week, VICE spoke to immigration lawyer Raj Sharma, who explained how the consequences of Trump’s executive orders on immigration could be substantial for Canada if it doesn’t figure out a way to mitigate the risk of US-based refugees illegally crossing the Canadian border in order to bypass the restrictions of the STCA.
Sharma, noting the story of two Ghanian men who recently fled across the Manitoba border in order to escape what they saw as unjust deportation from the US (and lost ligaments to frostbite damage in the process), says that the issue is not only a political one, but also a matter of empathy and human rights.
“These are troubling times. There’s going to be a lot of deportations. We should get ready to see many, many more [similar] cases to the one we saw in Manitoba,” Sharma told VICE. “[W]e could have people fleeing [the US] in large numbers, and immigration officials might have to start denying them because it’s not what many see as dangerous.”
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