Refugees from US pressuring Canada
CANADA: Canadian police have bolstered their presence at the Quebec border and border authorities have created a temporary refugee centre to process a growing number of asylum seekers crossing from the United States.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said yesterday it had converted an unused basement into a refugee claimant processing centre. The agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are reassigning staff from other locations in the province to handle rising demand.
The CBSA said the number of people making refugee claims at Quebec-US border crossings more than doubled from 2015 to 2016. Last month 452 people made claims in Quebec, compared with 137 in January 2016, it said.
The influx is straining police, federal government and community resources from the western prairie province of Manitoba, where people arrive frostbitten from hours walking in freezing conditions, to Quebec, where taxis drop asylum seekers off just metres from the border.
A Reuters reporter yesterday saw RCMP officers take in for questioning a family of four who had walked across the snowy gully dividing Roxham Rd in Champlain, New York, from Chemin Roxham in Hemmingford, Quebec.
‘‘Please explain to her that she’s in Canada,’’ one Canadian officer told another officer.
‘‘It’s touching, and we are not insensitive to that,’’ said Bryan Byrne, the RCMP’s Champlain Detachment commander. ‘‘Some of these people had a long journey. Some are not dressed for the climate here.’’
Asylum seekers cross illegally because Canada’s policy under the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if they make claims at border crossings.
But as US President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigrants, Amnesty International and refugee advocacy groups are pressuring the Canadian government to abandon the agreement, arguing that the US is not a safe haven.
Montreal, Canada’s second most populous city, yesterday voted to declare itself a ‘‘sanctuary city’’, making it the fourth Canadian city to protect illegal immigrants and to provide services to them.