PRESS RELEASE: CARL calls for Suspension of Safe Third Country Agreement, Increased Refugee Re-Settlement, in Wake of Trump Executive Orders

January 30, 2017

For Immediate Release

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) condemns President Donald Trump’s recent Executive Orders on immigration. These Orders set in motion profound changes in US immigration and refugee practices, and will have far-reaching effects on the availability of asylum in the US.

In the wake of these changes, and given deep uncertainty over their effects, CARL is calling on Canada to immediately suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the US.

Under the STCA, those who try to enter Canada through the US to make a refugee claim at the border are returned to the US regardless of whether they will or already have had access to asylum in the US. The US and Canada have considered one another “safe” for asylum-seekers. The STCA creates a North American approach to refugee approvals. With President Trump’s Executive Orders, the US is unilaterally changing the terms of that approach, with potentially disastrous consequences for vulnerable asylum-seekers.

“We are witnessing a dramatic shift away from basic norms of human rights and refugee protection in the US. In this environment we simply cannot rely on the Trump administration to protect the refugees we turn away at our borders. Canada has a duty to suspend enforcement of the STCA immediately" said Mitch Goldberg, President of CARL.

In light of the unilateral changes announced in the Executive Order, CARL is calling on Canada to reassess US asylum law and practice during the suspension period and, unless the evidence indicates that the US actually complies with its international refugee law obligations, the termination of the agreement.

“We should not be sending anyone back to face an increasingly hostile and discriminatory system,” said Lobat Sadrehashemi, Vice-President of CARL. 

CARL is also calling on Canada to respond to the US suspension of refugee resettlement by increasing the number of refugees it will re-settle in 2017, given the suspension of the US refugee resettlement. “We are living through a global refugee crisis. In addition to the acute needs of refugees from Syria, refugee populations in other parts of the world, including eastern Africa, will be deeply affected by the US decision to suspend its refugee program. Now more than ever, other countries need to step forward,” said Toronto-based refugee lawyer, and CARL Advocacy Chair, Andrew Brouwer.

Finally, CARL is calling on Canada to work with other resettlement countries and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fill the gaps caused by the US suspension of its resettlement program. “We should be working with other countries to ensure that the individuals and families who have already gone through the US’ refugee screening program can be re-settled elsewhere,” said Toronto-based refugee lawyer and past President of CARL, Lorne Waldman.

For more information, please contact:

Mitch Goldberg, 514-808-0843

Lobat Sadrehashemi, 604-374-4860

Andrew Brouwer, 416-435-3269

Lorne Waldman, 416-254-4590