Rights groups urge Canada to end “abusive” immigration detention by Human Rights News
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Montreal, Canada – The indefinite nature of Canada’s immigration detention system causes psychological harm to thousands of people arrested each year, including refugee applicants, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a new report on Thursday.
The report, titled “Immigration Arrest in Canada and Its Impact on Mental Health,” said immigration detainees have handcuffs, are tied up and incommunicado, among other things.
Not knowing when they will be released, as Canada has no time limit for anyone to be in immigration detention, is particularly worsening the psychological impact of the arrest, the groups said.
“Canada is proud to be open-minded to refugees and newcomers, even if people seeking security risk are indefinitely locked up,” said Samer Muscati, associate director of disability rights at Human Rights Watch. a document with the report.
“This leaves many with uncertainty (or even hope) about when they will be back, which can have a devastating effect on mental health.”
Immigration arrest
Canada arrests thousands of immigrants every year.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), which enforces Canadian immigration law, can arrest someone if they believe they have a security threat or fail to appear in immigration proceedings, among other things. The CBSA, however, needs to consider alternatives to arrest.
There are three immigration detention centers in Canada – in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia – but detained immigrants can also be taken to provincial prisons in specific circumstances.
The number of immigration detainees grew steadily between 2016 and 2020, the report found, reaching a peak of 8,825 people in immigration arrests in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
The Canadian authorities released them at an “unprecedented rate” in the coronavirus pandemic, and the Amnesty Movement and HRW investigators said there were alternatives to the arrests.
The CBSA told Al Jazeera in an email that since June 14, there have been 62 arrests at Canadian immigration centers, and another 97 immigration arrests at provincial management centers.
Releases occurred amid statewide pressure to release detainees to prevent demonstrations inside COVID-19 detention centers. For example, detainees at an immigration center in northern Montreal, Quebec, went on hunger strike amid fears they would infect the virus last year.
“Here we are in a confined space in the detention center, we see people every day, immigrants, people everywhere, who have not had a medical consultation or who have not had any tests to find out if they are potential carriers of the virus,” the detainee said. he wrote In a letter to federal government ministers in March 2020, which was shared by immigrant rights advocates.
“There are also security personnel who are in contact with the outside world on a daily basis and have not been tested. That is why we are writing this request to ask for their release.”
Government attitude
In an email to Al Jazeera, CBSA spokeswoman Judith Gadbois-St-Cyr said the agency will examine the findings and recommendations in Thursday’s report.
“We can say that the CBSA is committed to defending the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as important international rules set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The agency is committed to ensuring the dignified and humane treatment of all detainees under immigration law,” Gadbois-St-Cyr said.
He added that “arrest is a last resort and alternatives to arrest are always being considered.”
“The CBSA ensures that it meets the responsibility for the highest possible standards of detention, including the physical and mental health and well-being of detainees, as well as the safety and security of Canadians as a primary consideration.”
But Ketty Nivyabandi, the secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, called on the government to gradually end the immigration arrest.
“Canada’s arrest system for abusive immigration is in stark contrast to the rich diversity and values of equality and justice that Canada recognizes globally,” he said in a statement along with Thursday’s report.
“There should be no place in Canada for people who come to this country for racism, cruelty and human rights violations to seek security and a better life,” he added.
Post-traumatic stress
Since 2016, more than 300 immigration detainees have been detained in Canada for a year, the report found.
Investigators say not knowing when they will be released has caused “trauma, distress and a feeling of helplessness” for the detainees, as well as exacerbating existing mental health problems, leading to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
“Many immigration detainees develop suicidal ideation when they begin to lose hope, especially those fleeing traumatic experiences and harassment in search of security and protection in Canada. Immigration detention has particularly detrimental effects on communities of color, refugee applicants, children and families,” the report says.
“With last year’s criminal conviction, the release date, that’s the only thing holding you back,” an immigration detainee who was arrested last year in an Ontario provincial prison told investigators.
“When you don’t have that, you just curl up … Mental cruelty, torture is unknown in immigration detentions. It’s beyond human rights violations.”
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