Thursday morning in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, border village a few kilometers from the border post, the Chief Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Claude Castonguay revealed at a joint press conference that since early June, an unprecedented number of people, more than 7,500 had been intercepted after illegally crossed the border between Quebec and the United States to Roxham road. 85%, or nearly 6,400 people (including nearly 500 children) are of Haitian origin.

Only for the first two weeks of August, 3,800 people were intercepted in Canada against 2,984 in July and "only" 781 in June...

Representatives from the Canada Border Services Agency and of the Immigration and Refugee Commission, present at the conference insisted that the border crossing was not "a pass for Canada," they stated that if after analysis of the file, it is showing that the applicant does not need the protection of Canada, that person will be returned to his country of origin. Recalling that refugee status is granted to those fleeing war, persecution and terror in their country.

Louis Dumas, Director General, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, bounds in the same direction noting that "[...] enter outside the border crossings is illegal and gives no guarantee to remain in the country," recalling that barely 50% of Haitian asylum seekers had been successful in Canada in recent years.

According to Stéphane Handfield, a lawyer specializing in immigration, Haitian families who will see their asylum application refused, risks being separated. He explains that children born in the United States of Haitian parents are US citizens and Canada must, according to law, send parents back to Haiti and children in the United States, an unacceptable situation for families...

The camp at the border currently accommodates nearly 1,200 people and many children who stay on average 2 to 4 days before being transferred to temporary accommodation in Montreal.

Claude Castonguay said that the rate of illegal migrants arriving daily from the United States is relatively constant and varies between 200 and 300 every day 5 to 10% are children.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21788-haiti-politics-haitian-migrant-file-end-of-mission-in-canada.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21774-haiti-flash-the-canadian-army-builds-a-border-camp-for-haitian-migrants.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21762-haiti-quebec-two-haitian-ministers-on-mission-in-montreal.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21748-haiti-montreal-nearly-2-400-haitians-seeking-asylum-ceci-calls-for-help.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21717-haiti-flash-waves-of-haitian-refugees-unprecedented-in-quebec.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21037-haiti-flash-extension-of-tps-procedures-to-follow.html

SL/ HaitiLibre