Even if they now arrive by plane rather than via Roxham Road, asylum seekers have significant needs, says a large reception organization on the South Shore. A Senegalese recounts his arrival in the country.
Gorea Mbaye, 32, had never traveled, and even less so to Canada. “I didn’t know anyone here,” he says, even if he made friends during his stay at the Montreal airport. It must be said that he waited for almost 12 hours, “stressed until 3 a.m.”, on June 13, before being able to submit his asylum application. “There were a lot of people like me in the queue, but also from Niger, Cameroon and countries [latino-américains] », Relates the young man.
THE arrivals of asylum seekers between January and August 2023 total more than 81,000 people across the country: the amount is growing on average by 10,000 per month or even more, including since the “closure” of Roxham Road, in Montérégie. If the trend continues, the number of asylum applications for 2022 will therefore be exceeded this month.
Mr. Mbaye arrived in the country from Senegal on a visitor visa, and immediately requested protection from Canada, a regular route to obtaining refugee status. In recent months, the federal government has relaxed certain criteria to facilitate the processing of pending temporary resident visa applications. Ottawa is thus trying to reduce the backlog for this type of residence permit in the country, which amounts to several hundred thousand.
“I started working as quickly as possible, as soon as I received my work permit,” relates the native Senegalese. He is now an employee of the Maison international de la Rive-Sud [MIRS], in Brossard, where we met him. The search for an apartment “is much more complicated,” he says, having still not found anything more than three months after his arrival. “People don’t trust asylum seekers. They ask for previous references that we don’t have or to call our boss to see a contract. »
Like him, most asylum seekers now arrive by plane. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it is “aware” of the phenomenon. The federal ministry recalls that it is “due to the global migration crisis” that Canada is experiencing this increase, “like many other countries,” writes a public relations officer at Duty.
These arrivals are, however, “better distributed across all Canadian provinces”, a repeated wish of the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, who reiterated it Wednesday morning at a press briefing at the National Assembly.
In Quebec, asylum applications totaled 40,730 for the first eight months of 2023, compared to 33,715 on the same date last year, that is to say from January to August 2022.
Needs
The trend has already been observed since last year. The majority of asylum seekers hosted by Quebec at the start of 2023 passed through the airport, as revealed The duty in March, while the CAQ government repeated that Roxham Road had to be closed so that the province’s reception capacity could be respected.
No matter how they land here, applicants have very similar needs, MIRS stakeholders say. They experience “a lot of stress” consecutively, adds Yannick Melon, who is responsible for responding to urgent needs. In particular, they must find a lawyer or an immigration consultant to ensure that they respect the order of procedures.
Then comes the arduous search for accommodation. “It’s important to say that it’s not the asylum seekers’ fault, the housing crisis. Already, they often share their accommodation, live with the bare minimum and accept places with terrible conditions,” notes Mame Moussa Sy, general director of MIRS. He also notes that many Quebecers live alone in their homes. Once verified, it is in fact 19% of those over 15 who are solo, the highest proportion among all the provinces, according to the latest Statistics Canada census.
“Even when we find an accommodation solution, it creates new stress,” says Mr. Melon. […] They call me the day before to tell me: “Friday, I’m going back to my apartment, but it’s empty.” » A warehouse, this time loaned by the Community Development Corporation of the Agglomeration of Longueuil, is overflowing with donations from the public. But we have to collect and move this furniture, enroll the children in school, find a way to work even without access to subsidized daycare, find a place in French that is compatible with a job.
“These people have incredible inner resources and an ability to bounce back,” recalls Mr. Melon.
If before, a high proportion arrived after a very long and dangerous journey from Brazil to the border, today’s applicants still come from countries where political violence and persecution are not rare. “We cannot imagine the immense pressure on their shoulders,” says Mr. Sy. Sometimes an entire village will go into debt or contribute in the hope that the person will escape poverty and help them in turn. »
Hearing the question, Gorea Mbaye lowers his eyes. He considers himself lucky not to have paid a fraudulent intermediary or exorbitant interest. “I borrowed money from my sister to come,” he admits. A member of a political party, he fled the persecution that was reserved for him for having defended ideals other than those of power in the public square. Violence broke out in Senegal last June, shortly before his departure. This West African country is among the top 10 places of origin for asylum seekers in Quebec in 2023.