Beefed up security procedures to screen travelers arriving in Canada have led to a nearly six-fold increase in the number of people who were apprehended at the border over the last 12 months because of outstanding arrests warrants, the CBC News reports.
The new screening measures were introduced on Nov. 21, 2015, in the wake of a CBC News investigation that revealed a major security gap in the way passengers were being screened before being allowed into Canada.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has apprehended 3,067 people with outstanding criminal arrest warrants at border crossings since then, CBC news reported.
In the previous 12 months, before the new screening system came into effect, the CBSA had caught just 556 alleged fugitives.
The new security measures were introduced in large part after an Ontario woman went public with her story about being sexually assaulted — allegedly by a Nigerian priest who was able to get back into Canada despite having warrants out for his arrest.
The CBC News investigation into her case discovered that front-line border agents at primary inspection points did not have access to the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), a database detailing criminal records, individuals with outstanding arrest warrants and other information outlining who might be a risk to Canadians.
The database was available to police forces across Canada and even U.S. border agents but the CBSA only screened a limited number of travelers deemed suspicious and sent for more thorough checks.
Now CBSA agents at all inspection points screen every passenger arriving in Canada through CPIC.
“Knowing that potentially some other person’s rapist has been caught at the border, or somebody that’s done something terrible to someone else, gives me some comfort,” the Ontario woman whose complaint led to the changes told CBC News, which is not identifying her because she is a victim of sexual assault.
Based on reporting by John Lancaster, CBC News
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