Immediately Reopen Canada's Border to Refugees!The Safe Third Country Agreement, signed by Canada and the U.S. in 2002, came into force in December 2004. Under that agreement, Canada and the U.S. each declare the other country safe for refugees and close the door on most refugee claimants at the Canada-U.S. border. It is precisely that agreement which forces asylum seekers to cross into Canada at irregular border crossings to make their refugee claim, as otherwise the vast majority are refused entry at the official Canada-U.S. border. Most refugee claimants enter Canada via New York State through Roxham Road, in Hemmingford, Quebec, a small town in the Eastern Townships.
Canada is a signatory to the United Nations' 1951 Refugee Convention under which it has international legal obligations. Its refusal to allow refugees into Canada may also be in violation of the Convention against Torture. Around a week prior to the border being closed to refugee claimants, Jean-Pierre Fortin, President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) contacted the press with concerns that those crossing over through Roxham Road were not being subjected to a 14-day period of compulsory isolation, adding that he had expressed those concerns to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair. The CIU President informed that 60-80 asylum seekers per day were crossing irregularly into Canada from the U.S. through Roxham Road. He stressed that often these individuals have travelled through a number of countries before arriving in Canada and that they are in need. Measures have to be put in place, he stressed at the time, so that asylum seekers can enter safely and not infect Canadian citizens. His own suggestion was that they should be kept in temporary facilities onsite while in isolation and be provided care during that time by staff from Health Canada or the Red Cross.
In Canada, rights are considered privileges, which may be granted or taken away by those who wield power. It is precisely under exceptional circumstances that rights and obligations must be upheld. There was no threat here from these refugee claimants had the government taken up its responsibility to isolate them for a period of 14 days and provide the necessary medical support they required. Canadians do not agree with the so-called Canadian values the Prime Minister espouses nor such treatment. What is taking place also brings to the fore the predicament that Canada finds itself in as a result of its integration into the U.S. and its lack of self-reliance with respect to the economy. We must use every means at our disposal to condemn the Canadian government for what it has done and put pressure on it that the border must immediately be reopened to the world's most vulnerable human beings. (Sources: CPAC, Canadian Council on Refugees, Radio-Canada. photo: Réseau Roxham)
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau told Canadians: "Canada and the
United States are
announcing a reciprocal arrangement where we will
now be returning
irregular migrants who attempt to cross anywhere
at the Canada-U.S.
border." He also said: "They are, for the most
part, people who are
legally in the United States and that is something
we are confident
about. We also have ensured that we are
comfortable with the treatment
of refugees and vulnerable people." He said "This
is part of a set of
extreme new measures meant to stop the spread of
COVID-19," adding that the measures were in
line with
"Canada's values on the treatment of refugees and
vulnerable people."
The border was closed to refugees on March 21 and
the agreement signed
between Canada and the U.S. is for a period of 30
days and is renewable.
Prior to and as
justification for signing the reciprocal agreement
with the U.S., both
the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister
kept repeating that
these are "exceptional times" and that therefore
"exceptional measures"
are required. Those refugee claimants being turned
back to the U.S.
risk being placed in detention centres in the U.S.
in inhumane
conditions, where their health and security are at
serious risk as a
result of crowding, where families are separated
and people may be
deported to their country of origin to face
torture or death.