Some foreign nationals whose countries won’t take them back remain in detention for years.

Some foreign nationals whose countries won’t take them back remain in detention for years.
Photo Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Lawyer urges more action on deportations

There are about 15,000 foreign nationals on Canada’s list for deportation but some of them cannot be expelled because their countries will not take them back. Some work and contribute to society. Others are in detention because they are either considered a security or flight risk.

Individuals ‘stuck in legal limbo’ for years

“It’s a precarious situation for those individuals because they’re stuck in this legal limbo, if you will, this tug of war between Canada who wants to remove them…and their home country that won’t take them back,” says Aris Daghighian, and immigration lawyer and executive member of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.

“So, they are left in Canada without any permanent status. They may be working, going to school. They have children. The children are in school one day. They don’t know if they’re going to be removed the next.  And it actually sometimes drags on for years and years.”

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“It’s a precarious situation for those individuals…that sometimes drags on years and years,” says Aris Daghighian.
“It’s a precarious situation for those individuals…that sometimes drags on years and years,” says Aris Daghighian.

‘Canada has to do a better job,’ says lawyer

Others are incarcerated for years and years. The latest figures for 2016-2017 indicate that 439 foreign nationals were detained for 90 days or more.

Daghighian says it’s an untenable situation: “I think Canada has to do a better job of dealing with these individuals—granting them a more permanent form of status if their home countries will not take them back and then, Canada also needs to work with foreign governments to try to bridge this impasse when they can.”

The number of deportations has decreased dramatically in the last five years. The opposition conservative party blames that on a lack of resources and says the government should put more officers on the file.

Of the foreign nationals who have been ordered to Canada most are Chinese (2,066), followed by Indian (1,029) and American (977) citizens. There are nationals from 180 countries, as well as 209 stateless persons and 28 whose citizenship is not captured in the CBSA system.

With files from CBC

Categories: Immigration & Refugees
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