Immigration minister should use cultural background to deter asylum seekers: Emerson MP

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This article was published 29/08/2017 (3018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — A Tory MP is calling on Canada’s immigration minister to use his Somali background to dissuade people in the United States from crossing into his Manitoba riding.

Conservative MP Ted Falk represents the area around Emerson, Man., where more than 700 people have crossed irregularly into Canada this year, largely Somali and Ghanaian citizens. It’s illegal to enter Canada outside of a border post, but under international law people who cross illegally and file asylum claims are shielded from prosecution.

Meanwhile, thousands are now crossing into Quebec, mostly Haitians. Last week, a Liberal MP of Haitian descent spoke with the diaspora in Miami and on Creole-language radio. He dissuaded them from making claims in Canada, saying that despite rumours of a “free pass,” many will likely be deported.

Falk called on Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, who was a refugee from Somalia, to do the same before Manitoba sees similar spikes.

“With his background and cultural perspective, he would have a very good understanding of where they’re coming from,” Falk said in an interview. “He would also be a respected voice to them, one they would trust.”

On social media, Hussen has posted information in English and French aimed at dispelling myths around asylum.

Asked last Thursday whether Hussen will approach Somali broadcasts in places like Minnesota, Hussen’s department took until Tuesday to respond, and didn’t answer the question.

“We have expanded our outreach efforts to ensure that everyone is aware of the facts about Canada’s asylum system,” spokesman Rémi Larivière wrote in a vague email about using “a number of tools to reach key audiences and ensure a sound understanding.”

Larivière said Canada’s consulates and embassies in the U.S. are also working to make sure people understand Canada’s asylum laws, but didn’t specify how. It appears many are tweeting information in English.

The Immigration Department refused to say whether it was doing anything to specifically address West Africans living in the U.S.

Last week, African diaspora groups in Minnesota told the Free Press that many, likely thousands, of people from Ghana and Liberia are pondering an asylum claim in Canada, as the U.S. tapers off temporary-stay permits and ramps up deportation raids.

But Canada’s new government task force on asylum claimants says it’s focused on the higher numbers in Quebec and Ontario. Its spokeswoman Delphine Denis said other provinces might join “as the situation continues to evolve.”

For Falk, the lack of visible government outreach to the American Midwest means the Liberals are giving false hope to people who have low chances of successfully claiming asylum.

“There’s a lot of people’s lives that are being disrupted, thinking that they can come to Canada,” said Falk.

He says the refugee-hearing backlog is already delaying people from rightfully gaining asylum, while the army sets up shelters in Quebec. “The action of people coming here illegally is turning our RCMP and our Canada Border Services agents into bellhops and waiters.”

Since 2004, the U.S. and Canada have sent most people claiming asylum back over the land border. Falk and his fellow Conservatives want the Safe Third Country Agreement expanded to those intercepted after entering Canada at places near Emerson.

But most legal experts say that isn’t possible, because international law protects people once they physically enter another country — it’s also why the 2004 agreement doesn’t apply to people arriving in airports.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca