An influx of refugee claimants from the U.S. has been making headlines for over a year now. Since the beginning of 2018, the RCMP has intercepted 12,378 irregular border crossers. These numbers, however, are actually down compared to the same period last year and are much lower than initial projections. So why have politicians drawn a connection between refugees and a housing crisis?
It’s clear that social assistance is in need of reform. Innovative policies and targeted funding can make a difference, but all levels of government need to commit to making it happen.
From the Catalyst, Summer 2018
The Boat People
By Sharon Bala
McClelland & Stewart, 2018
Reviewed by Deborah Mebude
The Boat People is inspired by the untold stories of hundreds of Tamil refugees who arrived on British Columbia’s coast in 2009 and 2010. It depicts the tension between the slow pace of government protocols and the urgent needs of refugees in search of protection.
Most refugees arrive in Canada already indebted to the government by $3,000 to $10,000 for the costs incurred in bringing them to this land, including medical exams, travel documents, and plane tickets. They must begin repaying this loan within one year, when they have barely begun to regain their footing.
Here’s our proposal: waive the loan repayment requirement for all refugees.
Political pressure is mounting as refugee claimants continue to face barriers to protection at the Canada-U.S. border. With our latest report, Reclaiming Protection, CPJ amplifies the call for an overhaul to the Safe Third Country Agreement. As the countdown has begun to the 2019 Federal election, it’s useful to take a deeper look at exactly what the major parties are saying about the issue, and why.
The Safe Third Country Agreement faces an important test this summer as political opponents keep an eye on the number of asylum seekers using irregular border crossings. Meanwhile, a federal court challenge of the Agreement as a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms mounted by the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Canadian…
Anger. Disbelief. Grief. Outrage. Many of us are feeling emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted as we grapple with the news reports coming out of the United States. As part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, over 2,000 migrant children have been forcibly separated from their parents since April. While we can’t exert influence as voters…
“Reclaiming Protection” provides background on the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which has allowed the Canada Border Services Agency to return refugee claimants to the U.S. since December 2014. The policy is based on the premise that refugees should make their claim in the first “safe” country in which they arrive. But as anti-refugee policies continue to be introduced south of the border, there is much reason to believe that the U.S. is no longer a safe haven for many refugees.
EU, UNICEF, and scholarly reports show that women refugees often have a more difficult time securing employment, lack adequate access to important health services, and face a double discrimination effect of being minorities and women. Similar data is found among refugees in Canada, with reports showing consistently lower employment rates for refugee women.
June 2018
As refugee claimants continue to arrive at Canada’s border from the United States, Canadians have been engaged in vigorous debate on how we should respond. International refugee law is clear that crossing the border outside of an official port of entry is legal. CPJ has asked that all Members of Parliament be careful in their use of language surrounding border crossers from the United States. A more appropriate term is “irregular refugee claimants.”