BCCLA wants more accountability from CBSA after refugee was detained
Posted March 31, 2016 12:05 pm.
Last Updated March 31, 2016 2:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Rights and refugee groups are calling on the Canada Border Services Agency for more accountability when dealing with new immigrants and to implement better systems of acceptance.
The plea comes weeks after a 16-year-old Syrian boy spent three weeks in isolation in Toronto after he was stopped and taken into custody at the Fort Erie Canada-US border.
He’s now battling a possible deportation and has taken it to the courts, a task that most refugees are neglecting to even try when things go south.
“Refugees don’t necessarily want to make complaints because they feel so vulnerable, so CBSA is allowed to carry on with these activities without any accountability and with any kind of serious review,” says Josh Paterson is the Executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.
He adds being approached aggressively by uniforms can be a factor into not saying anything as refugees feel singled out and don’t want to get into trouble with their new country’s government.
“We see evidence of racial profiling of CBSA teams roaming around certain neighbourhoods in big cities and asking questions to people based on how they look.”
The Canadian Council of Refugees and Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers have also agreed to the notion of a new mechanism so refugees can be better prepared for assimilation.
