Quebec asks feds to close Roxham Road, says province can't handle influx of refugees & More News Here

“It’s unacceptable,” Legault mentioned on the legislature. “It’s impossible because we don’t have the capacity.”

The federal authorities takes 14 months to examine an asylum declare and within the meantime, Quebec has to home and look after would-be refugees and faculty their youngsters, the premier mentioned.

“We cannot afford to give services,” Legault mentioned, including that if the present tempo continues, Quebec is not going to have ample housing for 36,000 new arrivals.

Refugee advocates, nonetheless, say they do not settle for the premier’s declare.

“What is Quebec’s capacity for compassion? For justice? It’s maybe not unlimited, but the capacity is there,” Paul Clarke, interim govt director of Action Réfugiés Montréal, mentioned Wednesday in an interview.

Clarke, whose group sponsors and gives providers to refugees, mentioned that whereas it may be troublesome for asylum seekers to discover shelter in Montreal, he does not assume the scenario is any higher in different Canadian cities.

Quebec wants individuals, advocate says

Janet Dench, govt director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, mentioned that in the course of the pandemic, many individuals who had crossed the border at Roxham Road discovered work in Quebec’s long-term care houses.

“We not only have the capacity, but we also have the need, in fact, for more people,” she mentioned in an interview Wednesday.

Part of the issue, she mentioned, is the size of time it takes the federal authorities to concern work permits to asylum seekers.

“The federal government could alleviate things tremendously simply by giving work permits shortly after people arrive, so that they can get to work, and there are many jobs that they could very usefully fill,” Dench mentioned.

The irregular border crossing at Roxham Road reopened in November after it was closed in the course of the pandemic. Since the start of the yr, the RCMP have intercepted 7,013 asylum seekers who’ve crossed irregularly into Quebec from the U.S. That quantity is up from 4,246 final yr.

In 2019, greater than 16,000 asylum seekers had been intercepted by the RCMP after crossing irregularly into Quebec.

Legault mentioned many of those that cross irregularly are finally not in a position to keep in Canada.

“You have to understand, the problem is that many of these people are not really refugees,” the premier mentioned. “A refugee is someone who is physically at risk in their country. But the majority are not refugees; eventually, when the file is analyzed, they are refused, returned back home.”

Clarke mentioned it is not attainable to decide which refugee claimants will likely be profitable. “To say half of these people aren’t going to make it, well, which half, Mr. Legault?

“If he is saying that, then he’s acknowledging that persons are coming to Canada they usually do want safety. So how do you determine which half?”

Under the 2004 Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement, refugee claimants who enter Canada outside an official port of entry must be processed in Canada and cannot be immediately returned to the U.S. Claimants who come through official entry points of entry, however, are sent back to the U.S.

Dench said closing the Roxham Road entry point would merely push people to cross at other points of entry — which would make it more difficult for the federal government to process asylum seekers.

“The purpose they’re concentrated in Quebec is solely a matter of geography, as a result of there’s a giant land border between the U.S. and Canada that folks can cross over,” Dench said.

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters Tuesday that a balance needs to be found.

“Resources have been offered for that exact concern on the border,” he said. “We are additionally in discussions with the U.S. to regulate the actions of any asylum seekers. This is an element of the technique so as to each defend the rights of refugees whereas on the similar time defending Quebec residents.”