The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday validated a controversial agreement reached with the United States in 2004, which stipulates that asylum seekers must submit their request in the first country where they arrive. The judges unanimously believed that this “Safe third country agreement“, condemned by associations in defense of refugees, did not bear”no violation of the asylum seekers’ right to freedom and security“.
In July 2020, the Federal Court of Canada struck down the agreement, ruling that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Advocacy groups challenged the agreement’s constitutionality on behalf of plaintiffs, including a Muslim woman from Ethiopia who was held in solitary confinement for a week in a US detention center after being returned by Canadian authorities.
Risk of refoulement
Though “asylum seekers face real and not speculative risks of rejection from the United States, the Canadian legislative regime provides safety valves that protect against such risksJudge Kasirer assessed in the decision. However, the court finds that the appeal regarding “harm to women who fear persecution because of their gendermust be reviewed again. The case is therefore sent back to the federal court.
“The US is not a safe countryfor many refugees, including women and LGBT+ people, said the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CLAC). These riskto be arbitrarily detained and held in solitary confinement in the United States and then returned to a country where they risk persecution, torture, or death“.
Withdraw from the agreement “as soon as possible”
Amnesty International Canada expressed its disappointment following this decision and called on the country to withdraw from the agreement.”as quickly as possible“. “Safe Third Country Agreement puts refugees, especially those fleeing gender-based persecution, at serious risk of resettlement“, its Secretary General Ketty Nivyabandi declared during a press briefing.
Since March, migrants can be returned across the entire border between the two countries. Prior to this change, the agreement did not apply to asylum seekers who arrived in Canada outside of official ports of entry such as Roxham Road, south of Montreal. In 2022, 40,000 migrants from the United States arrived through this passage, which has been closed since March.
