A Canadian court dismissed the country’s asylum pact with the United States on Wednesday, ruling that the 2004 deal was invalid because Washington violates the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), people who want to seek refuge in Canada and report to a formal border crossing between Canada and the United States are returned to the United States and are told to seek refuge there first.
Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Council of Churches defied the pact last year, saying the United States does not qualify as a “safe” country under President Donald Trump. They cited the widespread detention of rejected asylum seekers from Canada, as well as the separation of migrant parents from their children by the Trump administration.
In Wednesday’s ruling, Federal Court Judge Ann Marie McDonald said the STCA violated Canadian constitutional guarantees of life, liberty and security, due to the risk of detention facing asylum seekers in the United States.
He cited the “compelling” case of an Ethiopian Muslim immigrant woman named Nedira Mustefa, who was held in isolation for a week in a US detention center after being sent back by Canadian authorities.
Mustefa described his time in solitary confinement in the United States as “a terrifying, isolating, and psychologically traumatic experience,” according to the court ruling.
“Canada cannot turn a blind eye to the consequences that have happened to Mustefa in its efforts to join the STCA,” the judge wrote in her decision. “The evidence clearly demonstrates that those returned to the United States by Canadian officials are detained as a penalty.”
McDonald suspended his decision for six months to give Parliament an opportunity to respond.
‘No one deserves to be mistreated’
The Canadian government said it was currently reviewing the ruling, and Mary-Liz Power, a spokeswoman for Public Security Minister Bill Blair, noted that the STCA “remains in effect” until January 2021.
The ruling can be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court if necessary.
There were no immediate comments from the United States Department of Homeland Security and State.
Mustefa, among those on whose behalf the legal challenge was launched, told Reuters news agency that she was relieved.
“At the end of the day, we are all human,” he said. “No one deserves to be mistreated like that.”
Big win for @downtownlegal customers! The Federal Court found that the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States violates section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Read the full decision here 👉https: //t.co/SvbxX1twWh
– Downtown Legal Services (@downtownlegal) July 22, 2020
The three groups that filed the lawsuit said they appreciated the decision and urged the Canadian government not to appeal. The groups also urged Canada to immediately stop returning asylum seekers to the United States.
“The Safe Third Country Agreement has been the source of serious human rights violations for many years, unequivocally confirmed in this ruling,” said Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.
“It cannot be allowed to continue for another day.”
Since Trump took office in 2017, more than 50,000 people have crossed the border between Canada and the United States to submit applications for refuge. Many of them arrived in the US from Syria, the Congo, Haiti, and elsewhere, and crossed into Canada traveling upstate New York and then onto Roxham Road in the city of Champlain, a minor highway that ends at the border.
Under special rules established by the US and Canada to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of those who cross illegally in either direction are now immediately returned to the other country.
The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers said Canada should review that decision, given Wednesday’s decision, and also revoke a 2019 rule that makes people ineligible for Canadian asylum if they have already applied for asylum in the U.S. .
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
