ON MIGRATION | Canada sees new high in asylum seeker crossings from US

The Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intercepted 23,358 asylum seekers crossing into Canada at unofficial entry points during the first eight months of the year.

Asylum seekers are forced to cross border at informal points of entry due to contentious deal between US and Canada.

The idea underpinning the agreement is that both countries are “safe” and offer people access to fair refugee status determination systems. In practice, it means most people who try to make a claim at a Canadian port of entry are turned back to the US.

But Canadian law allows asylum seekers to apply for protection once in Canada – and this loophole has pushed thousands of people to make sometimes dangerous treks across the 6,416km (3,987-mile) US-Canada land border in recent years.

Source: Canada sees new high in asylum seeker crossings from US, Al Jazeera, September 27, 2022