Vancouver Sun

FROM A TRICKLE TO A TORRENT

Refugee claims from India up 246%

- John ivison Comment from Ottawa

Justin Trudeau’s visit to the sub-continent earlier this year has become a political punchline, even among Liberals.

“India? We didn’t go to India,” is the response when the subject is raised internally.

But Trudeau did — and there were substantiv­e reasons why the visit went so badly.

Trudeau was snubbed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, because it was felt he was soft on the Khalistan movement that wants to establish an independen­t Sikh homeland in the Punjab region.

What is more likely is that Trudeau is soft on whatever policy might appeal to a key voting block — Canada’s politicall­y-active Sikh community. Punjab, where Sikhs make up a majority, is the largest source of Indian migrants to Canada and Trudeau has boasted about having more Sikhs in his cabinet than Modi.

A refugee claims analysis report for the first six months of this year compiled by the Intelligen­ce and Analysis Section of the Canada Border Services Agency, and obtained by the National Post, offers some clues as to why Modi’s government is at odds with Trudeau.

The report showed that there was a 39 per cent increase in refugee claims by mid-2018, compared to the same period a year earlier. Much of the increase is the result of the well-documented claims by Nigerian nationals crossing from the U.S. at Roxham Road in Quebec — a rise of 300 per cent year over year.

But there has also been a 246 per cent increase in claims by Indian nationals — a surge projected to continue in the second half of the year.

By mid-2018, 1,805 claims had been made, 60 per cent at inland immigratio­n offices, rather than at airports or land border crossings. The vast majority of claimants gained access to Canada using temporary resident visas issued by the Canadian government. Most were born in Punjab and neighbouri­ng Haryana.

“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 organizati­ons. It should be noted the vast majority of these claims are filed by Indian Sikhs,” it said.

The report cited rising tensions between the Indian government and the country’s Sikh population over renewed support for separatism in Punjab for the increase in claims.

“Contempora­ry support has re-emerged around proposals for an unofficial referendum of the global Sikh diaspora in 2020 on the question of independen­ce.… As government pushback against the Sikh community continues, fear of arbitrary arrest and abuse by authoritie­s will likely prompt more Indian Sikhs to leave the country,” it concluded, estimating claims in 2018 will reach 4,200.

There is, of course, nothing untoward about those being genuinely persecuted seeking refuge in Canada. That is what the program is for. But there are suggestion­s the Liberals are manipulati­ng the process for political purposes.

Sources suggest that in 2016, Canadian visa officers in India were told to facilitate people seeking temporary resident visas, at the same time as senior officials sympatheti­c to increased Sikh immigratio­n were brought in to oversee the program.

This fall, visa officers in India were reportedly given verbal instructio­ns to issue multi-entry visas valid for 10 years to all parents with children in Canada and to others with relatives in Canada.

The Conservati­ves tried to play a similar game when they were in power, introducin­g “super-visas” to allow parents to secure a 10-year visa. But it required the children in Canada to meet a low-income cut-off stipulatio­n and arrange medical insurance. Those requiremen­ts now appear to have been waived.

The number of visa applicatio­ns from Indian citizens soared 70 per cent to 490,552 in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2017, and the number of visas approved increased 61 per cent to 295,867 year on year, according to Immigratio­n department statistics.

Mathieu Genest, a spokesman for Immigratio­n Minister Ahmed Hussen, said the independen­ce of visa officers is enshrined in law and no political direction was given.

“Canada is a preferred destinatio­n for Indian visitors, business travellers and students and we value their contributi­ons to Canadian society,” he said. “While the overall number of Indian TRV (temporary resident visa) holders claiming asylum has risen, these claims represent less than one per cent of all Indian travellers to Canada. The vast majority of Indian nationals visiting or migrating to Canada do so through regular means.”

Genest said visa applicatio­ns are considered caseby-case based on informatio­n presented by the applicant. “The onus is on the applicant to show that they meet the requiremen­ts for a temporary resident visa. All applicatio­ns from around the world are assessed equally against the same criteria. Canada does not limit the number of temporary resident visa applicatio­ns that are accepted from any country.”

But Andrew Griffith, a former director general of citizenshi­p with the federal government, said that immigratio­n policy has often been the subject of political whims.

The increase in visas issued should be viewed against a background of changes being made to immigratio­n and refugee policy by the Liberals.

In 2015, the Harper government’s last year in power, 63 per cent of 272,000 new permanent residents were economic class migrants; 24 per cent arrived under the family reunificat­ion program and 13 per cent were refugees.

By 2021, the high end of the government’s projection­s suggest only 56 per cent of the 350,000 new arrivals will be economic migrants; 27 per cent will land under family reunificat­ion and 17 per cent under refugee and humanitari­an programs.

“There is a legitimate policy debate to be had,” said Griffith. “That shift from low 60s from the economic class to high 50s is not a major change but it is a significan­t number over time.”

He pointed out that over a 20-year period, the mix hardly matters, in terms of immigrants’ income levels. “But the Conservati­ves were right to bump up the economic class because that’s where public support is greatest,” he said.

Except, it should be noted, in immigrant communitie­s, where, as the 2015 election proved, Liberal plans to “reunite families” are extremely popular and gratitude is repaid in votes.

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