They are French-speaking and ready to work, but were brought against their will to Ontario: asylum seekers from Haiti intend to return to Montreal at their own expense at the risk of making their situation even more precarious.
Guerlin* swears that he did tell the border services officers who met him at Roxham Road on February 11 that he wanted to go to Montreal with his six-month-pregnant wife.
Sarah* and her two young children are in the same situation. The mother says she wrote in her documents when entering Canada that she wanted to go to Montreal, where she hoped to get help from the large Haitian community there.
But the two families, who left from Central America, were brought, like some forty other asylum seekers, to Niagara Falls on February 14. Yet they don’t speak a word of English.
Their goal: to return to Montreal as soon as possible. “It was my idea even before arriving in Canada,” says Guerlin. However, everything suggests that they will have to use the little money provided by the Ontario government’s social assistance to pay for a bus ticket.
Already, the man says he had to spend part of the $45 with which he arrived in Canada to pay for a taxi in Niagara Falls to open an account in a bank, one of the first steps for any asylum seeker arriving in Canada.
Even more precariousness
While they could have taken steps to find an apartment in Montreal from a temporary accommodation center there, everything suggests that they will arrive in the Quebec metropolis of Niagara Falls without having already found housing, worries the spokesperson for the Action Committee for People Without Status, Frantz André.
“To settle a political issue, we create even more precariousness,” he worries, pointing out the lack of coordination from Ottawa.
The language barrier also creates additional difficulties for these already deprived people.
I had to go to the hospital with my wife, but it was very difficult to talk to the doctors, because they don’t speak French.
Guerlin
Last Tuesday, Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette announced that the vast majority of the 380 people who entered over the weekend via Roxham Road had been taken to Ontario, with the exception of eight people who remained in Quebec. , most likely because they had family there.
The transfer of asylum seekers to other provinces was necessary, according to her, the reception capacity of Quebec being exceeded, she said.
“The federal government tells us that since Saturday, asylum seekers who arrived in Quebec have been redirected to other provinces, with a few exceptions. We are really very happy because it shows that we can get results. […] I don’t have any details about the logistics of the thing. We hope that it will be maintained over time and that it will be the new approach to border management, “said Mr.me Frechette.
More than 5500 transfers
This new federal decision does not constitute a new directive, but rather stems from the fact that all the places available in Montreal would currently be filled.
Thus, asylum seekers arriving via Roxham Road are offered two options: a hotel room temporarily in Ontario or transportation to Montreal where they will not be able to benefit from federal government assistance.
The transfer of refugee claimants to Ontario is not new. Since June 30, at least 5,557 of those entering via Roxham Road have been sent to the neighboring province, including 702 to Ottawa, 618 to Windsor, 2,841 to Niagara Falls and 1,396 to Cornwall as of February 13, Immigration said. , Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Friday.
What is new is that a large proportion of refugee claimants are transferred to Ontario. Since Minister Fréchette’s announcement on Tuesday, 248 others have been, or 93% of people who have entered via Roxham Road since February 14.
“Given the current high volume of refugee claims, IRCC is working to help provinces and municipalities provide temporary accommodation for those arriving. IRCC has endeavored to obtain temporary accommodation where capacity permits,” a ministry spokesperson explained by email.
It was not possible to know how many of these people speak French. Informed of the situation, Minister Fréchette’s office indicated that it preferred not to comment on the news.
* Fictitious names. The Press agreed to grant asylum seekers anonymity so as not to interfere with their journey in Canada.