Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - October 2009
The deportation rate in Canada has jumped 50 per cent over the past ten years, according to new data released from the Canada Border Services Agency.
The Agency�s documentation shows that over 12,000 people were deported last year, with approximately three-quarters of those people being failed refugee claimants. Ten years ago, in 1999 the total was 8,361 deportations from Canada.
Recently, Canada�s refugee system has been called into question, with some calling this country a �haven� for both illegitimate claimants.
However, the new deportation data shows that this may not be the case. Furthermore, many advocates say that there are, in fact, many legitimate refugees among the 12,732 people ordered deported last year and the 8,999 deportations ordered this year.
Critics say that the jump in deportation numbers does not, as the government claims, reflect a mass �ballooning� in the number of refugee cases. Last year, the Immigration and Refugee Board received 35,000 refugee applications. This is nowhere near the record 44,000 applications received in 2001.
�The pre-removal risk assessment in Canada is just a total joke,� says one immigration lawyer who has seen at best �poor decisions� in numerous cases and, at worst, �heartbreaking� rulings against several more clients who have been sent back to face �unimaginable horrors.�
Despite these criticisms, the Government has been clear about its aim to streamline the country�s refugee system and eliminate false claims. Toward that end, the Conservatives caused an international stir when they imposed visa restrictions upon Mexican and Czech visitors earlier this year.
Their reasoning was to discourage the trend of visitors coming to Canada, remaining here, establishing themselves in the community, and then failing to adhere to deportation orders once their claim was denied. Yet, this new report from the Border services has provided more fuel to the critics.
�This [new data on deportations] totally contradicts people who continue to say in the media that claimants are never deported from Canada,� said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. �These facts contradict it and that�s what people who work with refugees know � that this is a daily business, a daily experience that claimants are very routinely removed from Canada.�
Source: Globe and Mail
