A deal Canada struck this year to stem the flow of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. was, at first glance, a quick success: Within days, the number of people caught at unofficial crossings along the border dwindled to a trickle.
But five months later, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada has risen instead of falling. Many now come by air, while others sneak across the border and hide until they can apply for asylum without fear of being sent back, people working with migrants told Reuters.
The numbers show how hard it is for countries to shut the door on desperate people and the challenge unexpected numbers of asylum seekers can pose: In Toronto, hundreds slept on the streets this summer as they struggled to find beds.
“The basic reality is that closing a border doesn’t do anything to solve the need for protection,” said Shauna Labman, an associate professor and acting director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Winnipeg.
“It only increases the desperation.”
Canada prides itself on welcoming immigrants and aims to bring in a record half a million new permanent residents in 2025 to deal with an acute labor shortage. But it has sought to discourage those applying for asylum, chiefly through an agreement with the U.S. under which each country turns back asylum seekers.
Still, last year alone, more than 39,000 asylum seekers entered Canada via unofficial crossings – mostly into Quebec via a dirt path off Roxham Road in New York, prompting the province to complain it could not handle the arrivals. Asylum seekers are drawn by Canada’s reputation for swifter processing and greater acceptance of asylum applications compared to the U.S.
In response, Canada and the United States in March amended their two-decade-old asylum-seeker pact, the Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement now applies to the length of the countries’ 4,000-mile land border, rather than just at ports of entry.
The expanded pact led to a dramatic drop in the number of people intercepted at informal crossings – down to double digits in April through July from 4,173 in March.
But overall, the number of asylum seekers entering Canada has surged. The total number of refugee claims made in Canada rose in July to 12,010 – the highest monthly total since at least January 2017 – and up from 10,120 in March, according to data from the immigration, refugees and citizenship department.
DEMAND FOR SAFETY
Some of the higher numbers are being driven by more people filing refugee claims at airports or local immigration department offices – often days, weeks or months after arriving in the country, government data shows.
People applying at airports comprised about a third of all refugee claims made in July, up from about 16 per cent in March. Those filing claims at immigration offices accounted for about 54 per cent of July’s total, up from about a third in March. The top five countries that claimants came from in the first half of the year were Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, Colombia and India – though the numbers include those who applied before the expanded U.S. pact.
At least part of the reason for the latest influx is that Canada is among a shrinking group of countries seen as offering safe harbor while pressures of war, climate change and human rights violations force a greater number to flee, some migrant experts say.
The European Union, for example, recently introduced an asylum seeker pact allowing nations to more quickly send back some migrants. Britain’s government is pushing forward on a law making it easier to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, while U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has introduced a rule making it harder for migrants to receive asylum if they cross U.S. borders illegally.
“If you’re a person who’s trying to make this set of decisions, then Canada becomes a more likely option,” said Craig Damian Smith, a research affiliate at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University.
Canada’s immigration minister was not available for an interview.
“The world is facing unprecedented flows of migrants and refugees, and Canada is not immune to these trends,” Remi Lariviere, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.
Lariviere said Canada amended the deal with the U.S. to address “irregular” crossings and that the expansion “does not mean that claims for asylum will not be made in Canada at all.”
‘BAD ACTORS’
People working with migrants say some of the people filing claims days or weeks after they arrive in Canada are hoping to skirt a clause in the expanded agreement with the U.S. that says any asylum seeker apprehended within two weeks of crossing the border will be turned back unless they meet a narrow exemption.
That has prompted some to cross over undetected, sometimes with a smuggler’s help, and hide until the two-week period elapses.
The Refugee Centre in Montreal says it helped four families in one day last week who had been in hiding for a fortnight after crossing overland into the country.
“Unfortunately this is not a very safe avenue for them,” Executive Director Abdulla Daoud told Reuters. “It promotes bad actors who take advantage of these individuals.”
At the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto, about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of recent arrivals say they crossed into Canada undetected and hid with a smuggler’s help, Executive Director Loly Rico said.
Reuters spoke with 10 people seeking refugee status who recently arrived in Toronto, Canada’s largest city. They came from Sudan, Uganda and Mexico, among other places. All arrived by plane, with valid visas in hand. Some filed refugee claims days or weeks after their arrival.
Though they left for reasons ranging from domestic violence to war, the common draw for all was Canada’s reputation for protecting human rights and providing refuge.
“It is the first country that I thought about,” said Hana Bakhit. The 35-year-old from war-torn Sudan says she applied for a visitor’s visa in May, flew to Canada in July and filed a refugee claim two weeks later.
She has been sleeping in a mosque and a church, calling Toronto’s central shelter daily for a bed, only to be told there are none available. Still, she considers herself lucky to be in Canada.
With Canada’s land border largely closed off, the asylum system now favours people like Bakhit who can get a visa and plane ticket, refugee lawyer Maureen Silcoff said.
“Some of the most vulnerable people remain barred from accessing Canada’s system and I think we have to reflect on the inequity of that development,” Silcoff said.
Grace Nanziri, 42, was among those with the comparative privilege of being able to get a visa and flight ticket: she applied for a Canadian visitor’s visa when her LGBTQ advocacy made her a target in her home country, Uganda.
After waiting a year for the visa, she flew to Toronto in August – drawn by Canada’s reputation of protecting human rights, she said.
“They wanted to kill me,” she said. “That’s why I came to Canada.”
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Denny Thomas and Deepa Babington)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Nick Saban has a message for Tua Tagovailoa: Listen to experts, then decide what happens next.
Antonio Pierce had another message: It’s time to retire.
Saban, Pierce and countless others within the game were speaking out Friday about Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins quarterback who is now dealing with the third confirmed concussion of his NFL career — all coming within the last 24 months. He was hurt in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, leaving the game after a scary and all-too-familiar on-field scene.
“This has to be a medical decision,” Saban said on ESPN, where the now-retired coach works as an analyst. “I mean, you have to let medical people who understand the circumstances around these injuries, these concussions — and when you have multiple concussions, that’s not a good sign.
“I think Tua and his family and everyone else should listen to all the medical evidence to make sure you’re not compromising your future health-wise by continuing to play football.”
That process — gathering the medical facts — was getting underway in earnest on Friday, when Tagovailoa was set to be further evaluated at the team’s facility. He was diagnosed with a concussion within minutes of sustaining the injury on Thursday and there is no timetable for his return.
“I’ll be honest: I’d just tell him to retire,” Pierce, the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, said Friday. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to play the game. I haven’t witnessed anything like I’ve seen that’s happened to him three times. Scary. You could see right away, the players’ faces on the field, you could see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. He’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football. Take care of your family.”
Concern — and opinions — have poured in from all across the football world ever since Tagovailoa got hurt. It is not a surprising topic — the questions of “should he? or shouldn’t he?” continue to play — nor is this the first time they have been asked. Tagovailoa himself said in April 2023 that he and his family weighed their options after he was diagnosed twice with concussions in the 2022 season.
But Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said it’s not his place, nor is it the time, to have discussions about whether Tagovailoa should play again.
“Those types of conversations, when you’re talking about somebody’s career, it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins said Friday that they will bring in another quarterback, and for now are entrusting the starting job to Skylar Thompson. McDaniel said the team will not rush to any other judgments, that the only opinions that truly matter right now come from two sides — Tagovailoa and his family, and the medical experts who will monitor his recovery.
“The thing about it is everybody wants to play, and they love this game so much, and they give so much to it that when things like this happen, reality kind of hits a little bit,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pedersen said Friday. “It just shows the human nature, or the human side of our sport.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Greg Harden, who counseled countless people at the University of Michigan from Tom Brady to Michael Phelps, and Desmond Howard to J.J. McCarthy, has died. He was 75.
Michigan athletics spokesman Dave Ablauf said the family informed the athletic department that Harden died Thursday due to complications from surgery.
The late Bo Schembechler, a College Football Hall of Fame coach, hired Harden in 1986 as a staff consultant and student-athlete personal development program counselor.
“He meant the world to me and I could never have had the success I had without the time, energy, love and support he had given me,” said Brady, a former Michigan quarterback who went on to win seven Super Bowls in a 22-year career.
Howard, who won the Hesiman Trophy in 1991, was part of the first wave of Wolverines to count Harden as a confidant, mentor and friend.
“Greg brought wisdom, joy and his calming nature to every encounter,” Howard said. “His presence will be missed by all of us.
“Although my family and I are heartbroken, we hold on to the lessons, guidance and memories that will forever be Greg’s legacy. We are blessed beyond measure to have had him in our lives.”
Harden, who was from Detroit, earned undergraduate and master’s degrees at Michigan.
Phelps lived and trained in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after emerging as swimming star at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and worked on his mental health with Harden.
Harden retired from his role as director of counseling for Michigan’s athletic department in 2020. He still continued to work, advising student-athletes at Michigan along with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the NHL team’s peak performance coach.
He published his first book, “Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive,” last year.
Michigan athletics announced Harden’s death, and shared statements from some of the many people who knew him.
McCarthy, a Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback, sent the school his thoughts in the form of a letter to Harden.
“You gave me the courage and belief as we fought hand and hand against the demons that I’ve spent my entire life fighting,” McCarthy wrote. “You have inspired me by your ability to unconditionally love everyone and everything.”
While many famous football players worked with Harden, he also was a trusted adviser for women and men in all sports and walks of life, including broadcaster Michelle McMahon, who played volleyball at Michigan.
“He poured his heart into thousands of students, athletes, and celebrities alike without any expectation of gaining anything in return,” McMahon said. “He dedicated his entire life to making a difference and investing in the growth of the young impressionable minds that were lucky enough to meet him.
“His captivating presence and charisma captured the rooms he walked in. Greg’s gift to the world was his unwavering ability to help people see themselves fully, in full acceptance of their flaws and their gifts. His relentless approach made it impossible for his mentees to give up on themselves.”
