Civil rights groups are urging Canada to end the ‘torture’ arrests of refugees | Human Rights Issues

Montreal, Canada – The unresolved stability of Canadian migrants is causing the mental problems of thousands of people arrested each year, including refugees, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a new report on Thursday.

The report, entitled “Migration to Canada and Its Consequences of Mental Health”, said the detainees were being chained, chained and in solitary confinement, among other risks.

But not knowing when they will be released, as Canada has no limits on the amount of time a person can be incarcerated in immigrant prisons, especially increasing the concentration of their ideology, human rights groups said.

“Canada is proud to welcome refugees and newcomers with open arms, even though it is one of the few countries in the north of the world where asylum seekers are permanently detained,” said Samer Muscati, a human rights watchdog for Human Rights Watch. document following the report.

“This leaves many with no assurance – or hope – that they will be released, which could be detrimental to their mental health.”

Arrested

Canada employs thousands of people every year.

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), which promotes Canadian immigration laws, can detain a person if they believe they are a threat, or cannot move to another country, for other reasons. The CBSA should consider other construction methods, however.

There are three migration routes to Canada – in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia – but detainees who have fled to other countries may be sent back to prison.

The number of migrant prisoners rose sharply between 2016 and 2020, the report found, reaching a peak of 8,825 people in prison camps in the 2019-2020 financial year.

Canadian authorities released people “at an unprecedented rate” during the coronavirus epidemic, which Amnesty International and HRW researchers say is under way.

CBSA reported in an email to Al Jazeera that 62 detainees had been detained at Canadian immigrants since June 14, while 97 other detainees from other countries were detained in concentration camps.

The number of migrant prisoners rose sharply between 2016 and 2020 in Canada, but declined sharply during the coronavirus epidemic [File: Thomas Peter/Reuters]

The release came internationally forced to release detainees to prevent the explosion of COVID-19 inside the prison. Arrested in a relocation area north of Montreal, Quebec, for example, went on hunger strike last year for fear of contracting the virus inside the facility.

“Here in the prison we are in a safe place, every day we see people coming, from other countries, from all over, who have not received medical treatment or any testing to determine if they are infected,” the detainees said. he wrote in a March 2020 letter to cabinet ministers, distributed by foreign freedom fighters.

“There are also security guards who are in contact with outsiders on a daily basis and have not been tested. For these reasons we are writing this petition, asking for their release. ”

The role of government

In an email to Al Jazeera, CBSA spokeswoman Judith Gadbois-St-Cyr said the agency would review the findings of the proposals in a report on Thursday.

“We would like to inform you that CBSA is committed to complying with the Canadian Human Rights Act, as well as the international standards set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. St-Cyr.

He added that “arrest is a last resort and other forms of arrest are always considered”.

“The CBSA is striving to ensure that it is responsible for keeping as many detainees as possible, and for mental and emotional health and well-being of detainees, and the safety and security of Canadians is paramount.”

But Ketty Nivyabandi, Amnesty International Canada’s secretary general, has called on the government to halt the arrests.

“The practice of harassing migrants in Canada is in stark contrast to the economic diversity and equality and fairness that Canada is recognized around the world,” he said in a statement following Thursday’s report.

“It should not be a place in Canada because of racism, violence, and the violation of the rights of people who come to this country to seek security and a better life,” he added.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Since 2016, more than 300 migrant detainees have been imprisoned in Canada for one year, the report found.

The researchers say that not knowing the date of their release has led to “heartache, depression, and weakness” in the inmates, as well as exacerbated by blood pressure problems, which in turn led to frustration, anxiety and depression in the aftermath.

“Many detainees migrating to another country have suicidal thoughts as they begin to lose hope, especially those fleeing traumatic experiences and persecution in search of security and safety in Canada. Immigrant detention is particularly harmful to nationals, refugees, children, and families, ”the report reads.

“It’s a criminal, a release date, it’s something you just hold on to,” the inmate, who was detained at an Ontario prison last year, told investigators not to be named.

“When you don’t have one, you just go around … Unidentified in a foreign prison, and psychologically abused, tortured. Through human rights abuses.”