Refugee process not for all: Trudeau

Would-be Canadians need more than just a desire for a better economic future if they expect to be granted refugee status in this country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.

Trudeau, speaking at an event in Charlottetown, pointed to the case of 6,300 Haitians who have crossed illegally into Canada from the U.S. in recent months to request asylum. Statistics released this week show that of the 298 Haitian cases that had been heard by the end of October, only 29 were granted protection.

“Refugee status means that you have nowhere to go, you can not be protected by your home state,” the prime minister said. “It’s not just a question of, ‘I’m looking for an economic future, so I want to come to Canada.’”

The Immigration and Refugee Board is working its way through more than 14,000 cases lodged by people who’ve crossed illegally into Canada from the U.S. since February. So far, they’ve heard 1,572 and the overall acceptance rate is about 60 per cent. Haitians make up the majority of claims.

But though that country has economic challenges, it’s far from a failed state, Trudeau noted.

“There are people in different parts of the world who need help more, who have a more urgent need,” he said. “We must ensure that our immigration system remains intact and that Canadians continue to have confidence in our immigration system.”

The analysis of who has crossed the border illegally this year — along with the results of their IRB hearings — was part of a meeting Thursday between federal and provincial officials overseeing irregular migration at the border.

The task force was established at the height of a surge in asylum seekers this summer coming into Quebec from New York.

The numbers have since dropped — 5,712 people were apprehended by the RCMP between official border points in August, while in October it was just 1,890.

Contingency plans in the event there’s a new surge continue to be tweaked, said Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Earlier this week, the U.S. lifted a ban on deportations to Haiti, placing nearly 60,000 people on notice that as of the summer of 2019 they will need to return to that country or find another way to stay in the U.S.