The Secretary-General of the Canadian Chapter of Amnesty International stated that the country is known for its abusive immigration detention system and Canada for its rich diversity and values ??of equality and justice.

Ketty Nivyabandi said that Canada should not have racism, cruelty and human rights violations against people who come to this country in search of safety and a better life.

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) stated on its website that individuals may be detained for a variety of reasons, including whether they have a criminal conviction, whether they lack “community links,” or whether they may pose a threat to the government. Public or Canadian security.

It stated that the National Immigration Detention Framework launched in 2016, with a five-year investment of US$138 million, has created a “better and fairer” system that supports “humane and dignified individuals while protecting public safety”. treatment”.

Group calls on Canada to phase out its system

Nivyabandi said that Canada should sign and ratify the United Nations’ Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture to further prevent violations and open places of detention to international inspections.

She added that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Canadian authorities to gradually end immigration detention in Canada.

The 100-page report stated that people may be detained for months or years for immigration-related reasons. Detainees from communities of color, especially black detainees, seem to be held for longer periods of time and are usually held in provincial prisons.

According to the report, Canada detained 8,825 people between the ages of 15 and 83 between April 2019 and March 2020, of which 1,932 were detained in provincial prisons.

During the same period, 136 children were detained to avoid separation from their detained parents, including 73 children under 6 years of age.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that since 2016, Canada has held more than 300 immigrant detainees for more than a year.

“I feel like a dog”

The report includes 90 interviews with former immigrant detainees and their relatives, mental health experts, academics, lawyers, civil society representatives and government officials. The report stated that the names of most detainees were concealed to protect them from reprisals by immigration authorities.

In 2020, a former detainee was held in a prison in Ontario. He said: “I don’t feel like a person there: I feel like a dog. The guards will only open the latch to feed me.”

“When we mingled with Canadian prisoners in the prison, they asked why we were there. They thought we were the Taliban. We explained that we were fleeing the Taliban,” said another former detainee who came to Nova Scotia. He was detained after the provincial prison. Canada in 2017. “I chose Canada because I think it welcomes refugees. I think Canada is better than this.”

Researchers from these two organizations also reviewed related reports, UN documents, and undisclosed government documents obtained through 112 information access requests.

According to the report, many asylum seekers are held in provincial prisons along with the general prison population, often in solitary confinement, while those with psychosocial disabilities or mental health conditions are discriminated against.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Director of Disability Rights Summer Muscati said Canada is one of the few countries in the north of the world where people seeking security risks are held indefinitely.

Muscati said that the immigration authorities discriminate against disabled people, making their detention conditions more stringent than many other detainees, and their release conditions are also more stringent.

The two organizations found that many immigrant detainees had suicidal thoughts when they began to lose hope of being released, and those fleeing traumatic experiences and persecution were particularly affected.

They stated that many former immigrant detainees continue to live under the influence of psychosocial disabilities that they developed during months of imprisonment and even years after release.

Advocacy groups stated that CBSA is still the only major law enforcement agency in Canada without independent civilian supervision, which has led to serious human rights violations under immigration detention.

COVID-19 provides a “real opportunity”

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Canadian authorities have released immigrant detainees at an unprecedented rate,” said Muscati.

“With the pandemic under control in Canada, the government has not resumed business as usual, but has a real opportunity to overhaul its immigration and refugee protection system to prioritize mental health and human rights.”