Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Monday the importance of having an “orderly” immigration system, in the wake of the deaths of eight migrants, including two children, whose bodies were found last week in the waters of the St. Lawrence River at Akwesasne.
In March, Canada renegotiated the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States to apply to the entire Canada-US border. The objective was thus to turn back migrants who were passing through irregular routes such as Roxham Road.
The deal means people will be turned away from the border no matter where they try to cross. The goal is for people to apply for asylum in the first country they arrive in, be it Canada or the United States.
Migrant rights groups have warned, however, that the new rules will push people to take even greater risks to cross the border, including using smugglers and moving to even more remote crossings.
A week later, the bodies of the eight migrants were fished out of the St. Lawrence River. The members of two families, one of Romanian origin and the other of Indian origin, were then trying to enter the United States by boat from Canada.
Passing through Val-d’Or on Monday, the Prime Minister called the deaths a tragedy, but said Canada must maintain public confidence in the immigration system.
“When people make themselves vulnerable, put themselves in danger by crossing over or pay criminals to help them, it’s not a system we can all trust,” he said.
Mr. Trudeau recalled that Canada is welcoming more immigrants than ever, but that it must be done “responsibly” to prevent people from putting themselves in danger.
“While there are many places in the world that are turning their backs on immigration, here in Canada and in Quebec, we understand that we need immigration,” said Mr. Trudeau. It is an asset for our communities, for our growth, to counter the labor shortage that is real in all the regions of Quebec that I visit. »
The government’s immigration plan says between 410,000 and 505,000 people will become permanent residents this year, which would be the highest number in recent history.
But since the lifting of border restrictions related to COVID-19 in 2021, the number of asylum applications has significantly exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Cities and provinces, particularly Quebec, said the number of families seeking asylum had put pressure on local services.
Despite the recent crackdown at the border, the federal government has earmarked $1 billion for temporary housing and healthcare coverage for asylum seekers.
Minister Fraser is considering changes
NDP Immigration Critic Jenny Kwan on Monday called on the government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement, saying it was negotiated in secret and without consultation.
“I fear people will die,” Kwan said at a news conference at the irregular border crossing near Emerson, Manitoba.
She was joined by Seidu Mohammed, a bisexual man from Ghana, whose asylum claim was rejected in the United States. He spent a year in immigration detention before entering Canada through an irregular border crossing.
Had he not done so, he fears he would have been deported to Ghana where consensual same-sex sexual acts are prohibited by law and people who identify as LGBTQ+ face discrimination. and violence.
Seidu Mohammed said he was terrified when he heard about the new policy. “It will put a lot of immigrants and refugees at risk, and they will lose their lives,” he commented.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser called the migrant deaths in Akwesasne horrific and said they had caused him to think about change.
“I don’t have a policy change announcement today, but I can assure you that I am thinking very deeply about the changes we should make in Canada,” he said, reflecting specifically on the fact that the two deceased children had Canadian passports.
The children were one and two years old.
Mr Fraser said the Government was considering investing money in some of the root causes that lead people to make perilous journeys through irregular border crossings in the first place, but repeated the Prime Minister’s message on the importance of an orderly system.
“We want to do what we can to promote opportunities for people to follow regular pathways so they know they can arrive in Canada safely, whether it’s through our refugee programs, either through our economic programs to be reunited with their families,” Minister Fraser said at a press conference in Calgary.