Canada approved less than a quarter of Indian refugee claims

TORONTO:WHILE the number of refugee applications by Indians in Canada has ballooned in recent years, the percentage of their acceptance is extremely low. Less than a quarter of the cases have been finalised by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRBC).

Of the 467 claims finalised till the end of September, less than 25% or just 115 were accepted while 154 were rejected and the rest were either abandoned or withdrawn, IRBC data showed.

The figures for acceptance of claims of alleged persecution were small in 2016 and 2017 as well, at nearly 27% of the cases finalised.

But IRBC data again points to a sharp rise in the number of claims being made. While only 379 claims were referred to the Board in 2015, that number rose to 582 in 2016; 1460 in 2017 and has more than doubled to 2,932 so far this year.

IRBC is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for deciding immigration and refugee matters.

It did not respond to queries seeking clarifications on the figures and reasons behind such claims being made and rejected.

A recent column in the Canadian daily National Post cited a refugee claim analysis by Intelligence and Analysis Section of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), stating “the vast majority of these claims are filed by Indian Sikhs”.

It said a “frequent basis of claim cited by Indian nationals is the fear of arbitrary arrest or abuse by the police based on accusations of supporting militant organisations.” These claims have also increased since Justin Trudeau came into power in Ottawa. The IRBC currently has 3,799 claims pending before it.