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Refugees raise their hands as they illegally cross the border between the United States and Canada
Canada’s federal court ruled that an asylum agreement the country has with the United States is invalid because the United States violates the human rights of refugees.
The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), in force since 2004, requires asylum seekers to apply for protection in the first safe country they arrive at.
But on Wednesday, a judge declared the deal to be unconstitutional due to the possibility of the United States jailing migrants.
The ruling marks a great victory for Canadian immigration activists.
Lawyers for the refugees who had been rejected at the Canadian border had contested the agreement, arguing that the United States did not qualify as “safe” for asylum seekers.
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Nedira Jemal Mustefa, one of the refugees forced to stay in the United States, told the court that her time in solitary confinement in the United States was “a terrifying, isolating and psychologically traumatic experience,” according to the court ruling.
“We are very familiar with the United States’ treatment of asylum seekers,” Maureen Silcoff news agency, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, told Reuters.
The 5,525-mile (8,891-km) border between the United States and Canada is the longest border between two countries in the world.
What is the Secure Third Country Agreement?
The Secure Third Country Agreement is a policy implemented to better manage asylum applications and avoid so-called “asylum purchases” between countries.
But it is also forcing asylum seekers to do what the Canadian government calls “irregular” crossings to avoid being returned at official border points.
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Since 2017, when President Donald Trump took office promising an immigration crackdown, some 58,000 people have crossed into Canada from the U.S. in that way to make subsequent asylum claims.
Canada had been processing its claims until the coronavirus pandemic, when the Canadian government said they would be returned.
There have been calls in Canada to suspend or renegotiate the agreement with the United States.
What did the judge say?
Federal court judge Ann Marie McDonald ruled that the agreement violated a section of the Canadian Bill of Rights that prohibits the government from interfering with the right to life, liberty and security.
“It is my conclusion, based on the evidence, that ineligible STCA applicants are returned to the United States by Canadian officials where they are immediately and automatically imprisoned by US authorities,” Judge McDonald said in her ruling.
“I have concluded that imprisonment and the attendant consequences are inconsistent with the spirit and purpose of the STCA and constitute a violation of the rights guaranteed by section 7 of the [Charter of Rights and Freedoms],” She continued.
But the judge delayed the ruling for six months to allow the Canadian Parliament and the United States Congress to respond. The ruling can also be appealed.
The U.S. immigration authorities have yet to comment on the ruling.
A spokeswoman for Canada’s Minister of Public Security and Emergency Preparedness told BBC News that they are “aware of the Federal Court decision and are currently reviewing it.”
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