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Canada shut its land border to asylum seekers. More refugees came anyway
(www.reuters.com)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
TORONTO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A deal Canada struck this year to stem the flow of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. was, at first glance, a quick success: Within days, the number of people caught at unofficial crossings along the border dwindled to a trickle.
"The basic reality is that closing a border doesn’t do anything to solve the need for protection," said Shauna Labman, an associate professor and acting director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Winnipeg.
Still, last year alone, more than 39,000 asylum seekers entered Canada via unofficial crossings - mostly into Quebec via a dirt path off Roxham Road in New York, prompting the province to complain it could not handle the arrivals.
Some of the higher numbers are being driven by more people filing refugee claims at airports or local immigration department offices - often days, weeks or months after arriving in the country, government data shows.
At least part of the reason for the latest influx is that Canada is among a shrinking group of countries seen as offering safe harbor while pressures of war, climate change and human rights violations force a greater number to flee, some migrant experts say.
With Canada's land border largely closed off, the asylum system now favors people like Bakhit who can get a visa and plane ticket, refugee lawyer Maureen Silcoff said.
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