Canada: Motion calls for non-citizen convicts, undertrials to be denied asylum

That motion was moved after over a dozen people accused of extortion-related crimes, including several Indians, put in asylum claims

A motion has been moved in Canada’s House of Commons calling for non-citizens convicted of serious crimes and facing judicial proceedings in that regard, to be barred from making asylum claims.

A U.S. and a Canadian flag flutter at the Canada-United States border crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge, which remains closed to non-essential traffic to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada September 28, 2020. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg (REUTERS)

That motion was moved on Tuesday by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner after controversy surrounded over a dozen persons accused of extortion-related crimes, including several Indian nationals, putting in asylum claims in the recent past.

That point was made by Garner when she spoke in the House of Tuesday, as she said, “Foreign nationals were identified by BC’s Extortion Task Force, but once the CBSA began investigating them, they claimed to be refugees.”

She was referring to the task force set up in British Columbia for tackle the epidemic of extortion cases in places like the town of Surrey, and the Canadian Border Services Agency examining their immigration status. “As a result, deportations of the 14 suspects have been put on hold until the Immigration and Refugee Board decides whether they have legitimate cases for asylum.”

The motion calls for barring persons convicted of such crimes or facing judicial proceedings from filing asylum claims, as well ending the practice of “leniency for non-citizens convicted of serious crimes to avoid deportation.”

Her motion came as party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X, “If you’re a non-citizen convicted of a serious crime, you shouldn’t be able to claim refugee status to evade punishment or receive a lesser sentence because it might get you deported.”

That stand also echoes that of British Columbia Premier David Eby, who described as “ludicrous” that someone involved in his perspective in “a terror attack in our community” is “allowed to claim the benefits of refugee status in our country out of concern being returned to the world’s largest democracy, India.” Eby made those remarks last week.