Refugee claims down, as Ottawa hails reforms as 'tremendous success'

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says that reforms made to Canada’s refugee system a year ago have been a “tremendous success,” resulting in a huge drop in the number of claims made from “safe” countries while speeding up processing times for “genuine refugees.”

A big part of the reforms, which were enacted in December of 2012, was reducing claims from “liberal democratic countries,” Alexander said.

“These are countries that have the institutions and protections of a modern democracy and would not be expected to produce a significant number of genuine refugees,” Alexander said Wednesday at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. “In fact, the vast majority of these countries -- I think all of these countries -- in one way, shape or form themselves receive refugees … so there was a paradox.”

Under the reforms, 37 countries were designated as “safe” places. Alexander said claims from these countries have dropped 87 per cent in just one year’s time.

Claims from Hungary, for example, declined by 97 per cent in 2013, while countries in “distress,” such as Afghanistan, Congo, Egypt, Somalia and Syria, now rank among the top 10 source countries for asylum claims in Canada, according to Citizenship and Immigration statistics.

Total refugee claims for 2013 dropped to around 10,000, nearly half of what it was in 2012.

Alexander said reforms have also sped up processing times for genuine claimants to about two months, down from 20.

“We’re now able to provide faster protection to genuine refugees enabling them to start their new lives more quickly and were also to remove from Canada failed asylum claimants whose claims more quickly,” he said.

Alexander’s department also projected that the reforms will save Canadian taxpayers $1.6 billion over five years.

“The success of the new system after a year demonstrates that we have reinforced the integrity of the system and are guarding against abuse of our generosity,” he said.

The Council of Canadian Refugees, however, has been highly critical of the reforms, saying that it creates a two-tier system that discriminates against some claimants “on arbitrary grounds,” most notably country of origin.

Alexander’s announcement also renewed some tensions with the Ontario provincial government, which reinstated access access to essential and emergency health care for refugee claimants starting Jan. 1. Alexander, responding to a reporter’s question, said that “bogus” refugee claimants will take advantage of the system.

“That in our view is scandalous, it’s irresponsible, a bad practice because once again it will attract people who will try to gain the system despite our very successful reforms that have succeeded in reducing abuse,” he said.

Ontario’s Health Minister Deb Matthews has said providing essential health services to refugees will cost about $20 million per year. She has maintained that Ottawa will pay the costs, saying the federal government has a responsibility to provide refugees with basic healthcare.