The nation’s highest court will rule Friday on whether the pact between Canada and the United States to control the flow of asylum seekers violates their basic rights.
The Safe Third Country Agreement, which came into effect in 2004, recognizes Canada and the United States as safe places where potential refugees can seek protection.
Under this agreement, refugees must seek asylum in the first of the two countries they arrive in, making it illegal to cross the border to seek asylum in the other country.
Opponents of the treaty have asked the Supreme Court to declare that the legislation underpinning the pact violates the right to life, liberty and security of the person, saying the United States is not really safe for many asylum seekers.
The Canadian government argued to Supreme Court justices that those returned had access to fair asylum and detention procedures south of the border.
In March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden agreed to expand the treaty to apply to the entire 8,900 kilometer shared border, not just the points of official passages.
Previously, a loophole allowed asylum seekers arriving between official ports of entry along the land border to submit claims in Canada, even if they first arrived in the United States.
Opponents of the pact say it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because sending asylum seekers back to the United States puts them at risk of detention and other violations of their rights .
Long legal battle
The Supreme Court’s decision will put an end to the long legal battle started by several asylum seekers before the Federal Court in 2007.
The Canadian Council for Refugees, the Canadian Council of Churches and Amnesty International also participated in the proceedings as public interest parties.
The first challenge was successful, but was later overturned. A new attempt by the same group of organizations, started in 2017, led to the same result.
In both cases, the claimants, who are citizens of El Salvador, Ethiopia and Syria, arrived at a Canadian land port of entry from the United States and claimed asylum.
In her 2020 decision, Federal Court Judge Ann Marie McDonald found that the Safe Third Country Agreement results in ineligible asylum seekers being imprisoned by US authorities.
The detention and its consequences are “inconsistent with the spirit and purpose” of the refugee agreement and constitute a violation of rights guaranteed by section 7 of the Charter, she wrote.
“The evidence clearly demonstrates that those returned to the United States by Canadian officials are detained as a punishment. »
The Federal Court of Appeal reversed its decision in 2021.
Last year, Canada received 20,891 asylum claims from people who crossed the border outside an official border crossing, according to federal data.
In the first three months of 2023, before the deal was extended across the border, Canada received 14,192 asylum claims from people who crossed the border irregularly.
This year’s extension of the deal removed unofficial crossings, such as Roxham Road in Quebec, as viable options for potential asylum seekers to travel to Canada.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in this case before Messrs. Trudeau and Biden did not announce this change.
Amnesty International said the updated agreement creates an even more dangerous and unfair situation for asylum seekers in Canada.