Liberals axe Harper-era ‘safe country’ program

OTTAWA • Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen is doing away with a policy implemented under the Harper government that aimed to tackle a large backlog of refugee claims by limiting rights for asylum seekers from certain “safe” countries — a policy Hussen says created inequity in Canada’s asylum system.

The policy divided refugee claimants into categories, depending on where they were from. The Conservatives enacted it in 2012 as a way to deter “abuse” of the refugee system by people who come from countries that “do not normally produce refugees and respect human rights and offer state protection.”

Asylum seekers from a list of 42 countries deemed safe — such as the United States and most of Europe — were put through an expedited claims process. They were subject to a six-month bar on work permits and had limited access to the federal health program for refugees. If their asylum claims were rejected, they could not appeal the decision to the refugee appeal division, as is the case for claimants from countries that aren’t on the list.

The premise was that people from those countries were less likely to be genuine victims of persecution.

Hussen announced Friday that Canada is removing all countries from the “designated country of origin” list.

“The designated-country-of-origin policy not only failed to improve the efficiency of the asylum system, it compromised the principle that all people should be treated equally, regardless of nationality,” Hussen said in a statement. “The elimination of this policy is another step to restore fairness to the system to allow Canada to continue to offer protection to the world’s most vulnerable.”