The Canadian branch of Amnesty International is asking Quebec to no longer detain asylum seekers in its provincial prisons and to end the agreement that binds it to this effect with the federal government.
“To deprive of liberty a person who has not committed a crime is against the law. They are handcuffed, they are under surveillance by security guards and cameras. We take away their personal belongings,” says France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director of Amnesty International Canada Francophone.
Three holding centers exist in Canada and fall under the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). But space is lacking and migrants end up in provincial prisons. “The federal government gives money to the provinces to put them in medium security prisons, sometimes a little more,” she explains.
The human rights organization organized a rally Monday morning in front of the Montreal offices of Prime Minister François Legault to deposit 8,200 signatures collected in Quebec and Canada as part of a campaign across the country.
“We have called on the Premier of Quebec and the Minister of Public Security since last fall to meet with them and discuss the arbitrary detention of migrants for administrative reasons. So far, it has been an end of inadmissibility, ”she said.
Amnesty International says Quebec is the second province to have had the most migrants detained between 2018 and 2020, “including hundreds of migrant people detained in its provincial prisons”.
British Columbia will consider the organization’s request. “Signs seem to say that they are going to revise their agreement”, underlines France-Isabelle Langlois.
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