Faced with the worst refugee crisis in recent history, the Conservatives have continued to close the door on asylum-seekers
I’ve spent years researching irregular migration to Europe, much of it in North Africa, the Middle East and currently the Western Balkans. My topic has moved to the front page as the global refugee crisis has stressed the fabric of European solidarity. Until Thursday, the Canadian election campaign seemed insulated from its impacts.
We woke to the utterly heartbreaking image of a drowned little boy, Alan Kurdi. Reports suggested his family’s resettlement application had been rejected in June, and that Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander had personally seen their file. At the time of writing the truth was unclear. But at a fundamental level it doesn’t matter. We know for fact that without regular options people seek alternate routes to safety. I speak with a lot of refugees. These days most are from Syria. I’ve learned to expect one question: how can I get to Canada? My answer is embarrassing: it’s basically impossible. Geography and arrangements with other countries mean it’s hard to claim asylum, resettlement takes years and things are getting worse. Why? We keep electing a government that doesn’t want refugees.
Alexander may have suspended his campaign to address the issue, but the Conservatives have spent a decade tightening Canada’s asylum system and ignoring appeals from organizations tasked with helping refugees. It is a fact that restrictive asylum policies fuel irregular migration. Addressing this crisis requires radical and swift changes to the way Canada engages the world.
It’s well known that we’re facing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. But few realize what a watershed that period was. It required new rules and institutions we now take for granted. The resulting refugee regime is part of a broader system which, we assume, will respond effectively to humanitarian crises. But an international order based on universal rights is both precious and fragile. It does not sustain itself.
Anxiety around uncontrolled borders pushes debate to extremes. Witness the tone in Britain or the U.S. Republican contest. For politicians interested in winning elections it’s usually too risky to be seen as a soft touch.
But a mix of compassion and pragmatic leadership can trump fear. One example is German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent condemnation of racist attacks backed up by the decision to suspend regulations for returning Syrian asylum seekers to other European countries — despite the fact that Germany is on course to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone.
Would any of our candidates show similar resolve? Until last week, the NDP and Liberals thought it enough to deride Conservative policies and invoke the cult of multiculturalism. They’ve since changed their tone, seeming genuinely compelled by the Kurdi revelation. But have any contemplated the work of repairing Canada’s refugee system? Will they take the drastic step of immediately resettling tens of thousands instead of demanding citizens foot the bill? Can they provide the leadership to overcome the culture of fear sown by the Harper Conservatives?
Last month in an open camp in Serbia I met two Syrian brothers in their early twenties. Most people resting there were anxious to move on, but the brothers were terrified of the Hungarian police. Two weeks earlier Turkish soldiers had shot up their boat as it set off to Greece. The elder brother had been shot through his thigh, the younger through the forearm, which he held in a bloody bandage against his chest. After three days in hospital they were robbed by a Macedonian border patrol.
An engineer in the group, travelling with his wife and two children, asked if it wasn’t against European laws to beat refugees. What about democracy and human rights? Then, like clockwork: surely Canada didn’t treat refugees this way?
Canada will never face the scale of movement on Europe’s borders. His question is important nonetheless: What would Canada do? Surveys show most Canadians favour asylum provision, but our record is mixed. The groundswell of support for resettling Indochinese boat people is as much a part of our history as our infamous “none is too many” policy toward Jewish refugees.
Recent evidence includes the Harper government’s hysterical reaction to a boat carrying Tamil refugees, shirking commitments to resettle Syrians and prioritizing minorities (read: palatable Christians), cutting refugee health care, mandatory detention for irregular arrivals (even minors), claiming Roma people have no grounds for asylum and describing engagement in the UN as a “weak-nation strategy.”
A leader who recognized the crisis as a time for bold internationalism would have my vote. I would like to present a Canada offering hope instead of cynicism. Canadians deserve it as much as refugees do.