Number of Asylum Claims Lodged in Canada from Mexico Rose Again in March Stephanie Levitz - The Canadian Press
go to original April 17, 2017

They come in the dead of night, in the bitter cold - refugees seeking haven in Canada. Hundreds have crossed the border from the United States in the last couple of months alone. Every year, Canada receives several thousand people claiming asylum. But once they are here, what really happens to asylum seekers? (The Fifth Estate)

The number of people seeking asylum in Canada from Mexico continues to rise.

New figures from the Immigration and Refugee Board show that March recorded the highest number yet of new claims in 2017 — 110, up from 85 in February and 71 in January, for a total of 266 so far this year.

In all of 2016, there were just 241, statistics from the IRB show.

Last December, the Liberal government lifted a requirement for Mexicans to obtain a visa before travelling to Canada and an increase in claims was forecast.

The volume of asylum seekers from Mexico had been the reason the previous government begin to require visas in 2009, but the move caused diplomatic bad blood between the two countries.

The federal Liberals had promised to remove the requirement and doing so was given new impetus given the impending renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Still, in lifting the visa, Canada told the Mexican government that if asylum claims reached a certain level, the visa could be reinstated.

That figure has never been publicly released, but the current claim level is believed to be well below the threshold.

Read the rest at National Post

Related: Mexican Refugees, Tourists Continue to Flock to Canada (Inquisitr)

Related: Canada Moves to Strip Citizenship from Man Accused of War Crimes in Guatemala (The Canadian Press)

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