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Canada arrests nearly 70 asylum seekers at US border following Trump travel ban
Nearly 70 people seeking asylum in Canada were arrested over the weekend, adding to the small but growing number of refugees who are braving bitterly cold winter conditions to cross the border after Donald Trump’s executive ordertemporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
A spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency said that 21 people were intercepted in Manitoba, while 46 others made claims at border crossings in Québec.
Migrants must apply for asylum in whichever is the first country they arrive in, according to a 2004 deal between Canada and the US known as the Safe Third Country Agreement.
The agreement means that unsuccessful applicants for asylum in Canada can be sent back to the US, and since Trump’s executive order, migration advocates have called for the agreement to be repealed.
“The United States is not safe for all refugees,” said Janet Dench, the executive director of the Canadian Council of Refugees. “The situation was bad before, but it’s even worse now and there’s huge uncertainty in terms of how people will be treated and whether Canada can respect its obligation to respect refugees if it sends them back to the US.”
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