Good afternoon.
It is a privilege to have the opportunity to talk about the crisis situation that migrants in general find themselves in when they arrive in Canada. I am going to take the situation of Haitian migrants, very specifically, as an example, but you should know that there are similarities with what other migrants of various origins experience. Nonetheless, it must be noted that at present, a large majority of the migrants who arrive at the border via Roxham Road are of Haitian origin, as was the case in 2017.
Their arrival via Roxham Road is described as "irregular". What must be described as not only irregular, but also tragic, is the fact that these Haitian migrants have had to transit numerous countries, travelling through forests or areas where they were targeted by robbers, when they were not being attacked by wild animals. Some migrant women in particular have suffered sexual violence along the way.
You will understand that these migratory journeys leave scars and trauma. Of course the migrants pass through the United States before arriving in Canada, but they very often decide not to stay there because of the mistreatment and racism they suffer in that country. We will recall the shocking images that circulated last year in the news showing American border agents on horseback chasing migrants toward a river, lassos in hand, as if it was a slave hunt.
Apart from those images, there are also the shocking facts: the United States has deported more than 28,000 Haitians without giving them an opportunity to have their asylum claim heard. In that situation, Haitian migrants, like migrants of other origins, prefer to come to Canada to claim refugee protection. However, the safe third country agreement requires that their claim be made in the United States. That, in a nutshell, explains why migrants come to enter Canada by irregular means.
Regarding how migrants are received, there is inconsistent processing of cases that is a result of a lack of resources. The other challenges relate to housing for migrants. In some cases, there are still quarantine situations that delay filing documents. In other cases, migrants who were housed in Quebec have been given short notice to find accommodation on their own, or else agree to be moved by bus from where they are being housed in Quebec to a facility in Ontario. I have heard reports that some of them did not understand they were being taken to another province.
With respect to the refugee protection claim document, the "brown paper", that allows the holder to obtain a work permit, it requires other preliminary documents to be completed and submitted electronically in order for the claim to be analyzed. However, since some migrants do not have the technical skills or the ability to write in one of the two official languages, some migrants send the documents in late, so there is a long waiting period before they obtain a work permit. This means that they have no choice but to continue receiving last resort assistance, which is insufficient to meet their basic needs and keeps them in a precarious situation.
Some choose to work under the table and are then at the mercy of employment agencies that do not abide by labour standards or employers who subject them to abusive working conditions. A major challenge relates to the difficulty of finding an immigration lawyer, whether through legal aid or privately. At the same time, the government portal, which should make it possible for people to find information or send documents, is very difficult to use.
There is much more to say, but five minutes is not enough to talk about the distress experienced by asylum claimants who have chosen to come to Canada in the hope that they will be able to work and integrate into a welcoming and safe society under the rule of law.
For some months, Haiti has been in the news because the situation is not secure and because the humanitarian crisis has recently been exacerbated in that country, which is my country of origin. What is not explained in the media is the connection between Canada's foreign policy in Haiti and the flight of Haitian migrants to Canada. Canada has to have a foreign policy that does not contribute to exacerbating conflicts abroad. Most importantly, Canada has a duty to receive migrants with the dignity and respect that they expect.
Once again, thank you for inviting me to speak on this subject.