Feds tout reduction in requests for asylum
The government has already saved more than $600 million since it cracked down a year ago on countries believed responsible for thousands of bogus refugee claims, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced Wednesday.
Alexander said asylum claims from so-called “safe” countries have dropped by 87 per cent ever since the government created a list of nations deemed to be unlikely producers of refugees. Claims from Hungary, a country that previously produced the largest number of asylum claims, are down 97 per cent, while U.S. claims are down by 80 per cent.
Average wait times for a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, he said, are now about two months instead of 20 months, and “truly unsafe countries” such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Somalia and Syria are now among the top source countries for asylum claims in Canada.
“Because the system is no longer bogged down by claimants simply looking to take advantage of our generosity, Canada is able to offer protection to these genuine refugees much more quickly,” he said during a news conference in Toronto marking the one-year anniversary of the new asylum system.
Part of the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act that became law in June 2012, the so-called Designated Country of Origin list makes it more difficult for claimants from countries that respect human rights and offer state protection to obtain refugee status. There are currently 37 countries on the list. Asylum seekers from these countries now have their cases expedited, those who are denied refugee status have no right to appeal to the new Refugee Appeal Division and they are deported more quickly.
Critics, however, say the list is unfair, creates access to justice issues and that some countries labelled as “safe” — like Mexico and Hungary — are in fact not for some people, including ethnic Roma, a group the government has repeatedly condemned for abusing Canada’s asylum system.
The government estimates the changes will result in savings of $1.6 billion over five years.