Manitoba calls for refugee support

Premier seeks co-ordination with Ottawa as province sees surge of asylum seekers crossing border

WINNIPEG — The federal and provincial governments need to co-ordinate their approach to the growing number of asylum-seekers crossing the border because all signs from the United States suggest the issue is not going away, says Manitoba’s premier.

“With the United States approach … there are conditions that would lead, I think, most people to conclude this will be an ongoing challenge,” Brian Pallister said Tuesday.

“We have a letter going out with specific issues that we would like to see the federal government co-operatively address.”

The number of people fleeing the United States, largely from African countries originally, has jumped in recent weeks, following planned crackdowns on immigration in the U.S. The refugees have been crossing fields and ditches near border communities such as Emerson-Franklin, Man., and Hemmingford, Que.

The tactic is a way to get around the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires anyone who has already applied for refugee status in the U.S. to be turned away at an official border crossing in Canada. If a person crosses somewhere else and gets apprehended on Canadian soil, they can apply as a refugee and the case is heard by Canadian authorities.

Some immigration lawyers and politicians want Canada to change the agreement so that people can turn themselves in at official border crossings and still get their refugee claim heard.

Pallister was non-committal on the issue, saying there are arguments for and against the change.

In Ottawa, federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said he sees no need to change the agreement, because the United States was still living up to its international obligations in dealing with asylum-seekers.