OTTAWA / TORONTO (Reuters) – A Canadian court ruled Wednesday that a bilateral pact that requires asylum seekers trying to enter Canada across the U.S. border to seek refuge in the United States is invalid, saying the arrest of immigrants violates their human rights.
FILE PHOTO: The Canada Border Inspection Station is shown from the US side of the boundary in Blaine, Washington, USA on March 23, 2020. REUTERS / Jason Redmond / File Photo
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), asylum seekers who arrive at a formal Canada-US border crossing in either direction are rejected and asked to apply for asylum in the first country they arrived in.
Lawyers for the refugees who had been rejected at the Canadian border challenged the pact, saying the United States does not qualify as a “safe” country under President Donald Trump.
Federal Court Judge Ann Marie McDonald ruled that the agreement violated a section of the Canadian Bill of Rights that says state laws or actions that interfere with life, liberty, and security must comply with the principles of justice. fundamental.
McDonald suspended his decision for six months to give Parliament an opportunity to respond. The agreement remains in force during that time.
Experts have said that suspending the deal would have huge implications for the relationship between Canada and the United States.
“We are aware of the Federal Court decision and are currently reviewing it,” said Mary-Liz Power, spokesperson for the Minister of Public Security, Bill Blair, who oversees the Canadian border agency. “The Secure Third Country Agreement is still in effect.”
The ruling can be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court if necessary. The United States Departments of Homeland Security and State did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nedira Jemal Mustefa, among the returning refugees and on whose behalf a challenge was launched, described her time in solitary confinement in the United States as “a terrifying, isolated and psychologically traumatic experience,” according to the court ruling.
“Canada cannot turn a blind eye to the consequences that happened to Ms. Mustefa in her efforts to join the STCA. The evidence clearly demonstrates that those returned to the United States by Canadian officials are detained as a penalty, “the judge wrote in her decision.
Mustefa, an Ethiopian now in New York City, told Reuters she was relieved. “At the end of the day, we are all human,” he said. “No one deserves to be mistreated like that.”
Amnesty International Canada, one of the groups that launched the legal challenge against the STCA, praised the “historic decision”.
Looking for the high tide
More than 50,000 people have illegally crossed the Canada-United States border to file asylum claims in the past four years, walking on ditches and on empty roads along the longest defenseless border in the world.
Canada has tried to stem the wave of asylum seekers who entered the country beginning in 2016, after Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration.
Canada has closed its border with the United States to non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, he said he would no longer accept irregular immigrants trying to cross the border and would return them to US authorities, who said they would be deported quickly to their home countries.
The Canadian Refugee Lawyers Association 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 United States.
Reports by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney
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