CRC Keeps Close Eye on Lawsuit Involving Safety of Refugees

While the Christian Reformed Church is a member of the Canadian Council of Churches, it is not taking an active part in a  court challenge that the council and other civil society organizations have filed calling into question the safety of refugees in the United States.

The legal challenge is addressing issues of concern with the Safe Third Country Agreement that have come up because of recent irregular border crossings, said Mike Hogeterp, director of the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue.

The Centre had become especially aware of concerns about the Safe Third Country Agreement in its discussions with groups that work with refugees, said Hogeterp.

“As part of our preparations for discussions with MPs (members of Parliament), we regularly connect with colleagues involved in frontline services to refugees. Among these colleagues are two members of our grassroots advisory group.

 “These colleagues report that they are receiving regular calls from migrants with safety concerns in the United States asking how they might come to Canada,” said Hogeterp.

He also said, “As part of a bi-national church, we know that churches in the U.S., including CRCs, have provided safe and welcoming spaces for refugees through sponsorship.”

While welcome and safety are true for some refugees, said Hogeterp. others are “reporting concerns about their legal standing in the U.S. These legal uncertainties lead to the safety concerns that prompt irregular border crossings and anxious calls to refugee support organizations in Canada.”

Because of these legal and safety concerns he said, the Centre has asked government officials for a thorough review of the Safe Third Country Agreement. The Centre and the CRC in Canada are not participating in the court challenge.

 However, Hogeterp added, “The legal challenge of the Safe Third Country Agreement is an opportunity to carefully scrutinize the safety concerns expressed by migrants outside of the fray of partisan politics.”

Under this Safe Third Country Agreement, refugees who have come to either the U.S. or Canada are required to seek refugee status and to stay in the country where they first landed.

If they try to cross into the other country at an official border crossing, they must be turned back. There is a loophole in this agreement, however, that does not address the matter of refugees crossing the border outside of official crossing points.

As a result, last year the number of refugees crossing on foot at unofficial border sites began to grow, and by June more than 4,300 refugees had crossed this way.

The story of two refugees from Ghana illustrates the risks involved in unofficial border crossing. Late last year, two Ghanaian men decided to flee to Canada after they came to the U.S. seeking safety and were unable to obtain legal status.

Fearing that they would be deported under President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, they fled from Minneapolis in a taxi that took them to the border with Manitoba, Canada.

There, they began to cross in waist deep snow.

According to the New York Times, the two men floundered for hours, got lost and were finally found by a trucker who took them, severely frostbitten and weary, to Winnipeg.

These two men from Ghana are an example of the many risky irregular crossings that have led to charged political discussion on the Safe Third Country Agreement. The legal challenge filed by Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Council of Churches comes in the wake of this controversy.

For the most part, those refugees who have made these crossings — such as the men from Ghana — have been allowed to stay in Canada while immigration officials review their cases.

“We are asking how we can give support to those who are working on this issue,” said Hogeterp. “We want to understand why these people are coming and, if they are legitimate (refugees) how can these folks be properly protected.”

“We are a step or two removed from the lawsuit,” Hogeterp added, “but we see merit in the legal challenge to evaluate the concerns that these refugees bring with them when they arrive in this country.”

The  Canadian Council of Churches and others had brought the issue of what they consider to be the deficiencies of the Safe Third Country Agreement to the Canadian government, but it has refused to renegotiate the agreement.

As a result, the council of churches and others, including the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International, have filed the lawsuit.

"Canada and the peoples living in the land of Canada have long welcomed refugees from all countries,” said Rev. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, in a press release.

“The Government of Canada has a responsibility to ensure that the human dignity of all persons is respected. So it is imperative that all who seek refuge in Canada are afforded the protections guaranteed to them under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights treaties.”

Hogeterp explains that the Centre for Public Dialogue will be watching this legal challenge, as part of its ongoing work on refugee and migration issues.

For more information on this issue:

Activists challenge 'unsafe' US-Canada pact that prompts refugees to flee by foot

Contesting the Designation of the US as a Safe Third Country