Over the last few decades, Canada has gained worldwide respect for the perception that it vigorously promotes multiculturalism and has more liberal immigration policies than its southern neighbor.
It is not all smooth sailing, however. One-third of those claiming asylum in Canada are Mexicans, by far outstripping every other country.
Fuelled not only by drug war violence but also claims by individuals that the Mexican state fails to protect minorities, such as homosexuals, the issue is extremely delicate for both Nafta signatories.
The case of 26-year-old Michoacan-born Leo Zuñiga has been divisive and highly representative of the delicateness of the issues at stake. A far-reaching Internet campaign has been mounted in support of him staying in Canada.
Zuñiga claimed asylum in 2004, stating he was the victim of persecution because of his sexual orientation. His case was rejected on the grounds that homosexuality isn’t illegal in Mexico – the judge ruled that the Mexican state had the means to protect him.
“People think that (because) we have gay pride in Mexico City, then it’s safe,” Zuñiga told the Toronto Star after his case was rejected in 2007. “They don’t know that many gay people get killed in Mexico. It’s a very macho country.”
Now a social activist and settlement worker for immigrants in a Toronto neighborhood, Zuñiga is awaiting a Humanitarian and Compassionate hearing that will finally decide whether he will be allowed to stay.
Mexicans are exempt from Canada’s bilateral Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, which stipulates that asylum seekers must file refugee claims in the first country they enter. Unlike in the United States, Mexicans simply need to reach Canada in order to claim asylum.
On filing for asylum in Canada, refugee claimants are given around 500 dollars a month to live off, legal representation, options on cheap accommodation and the opportunity to apply for a work visa. It may not be living the high life, but it is an appealing option compared to paying a coyote to cross into the United States, and has fuelled reports that many Mexicans are using bogus refugee claims to get into Canada.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 asylum claims were filed by Mexicans arriving in Canada in 2008, up around 15 percent on the year before. This has posed a substantial problem for Canadian immigration officials trying to decipher which of the cases are genuine and which are made up.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on April 15 that some Mexicans are trying to enter Canada “through the back door” by first applying for asylum and then starting the normal legal immigration process while in the country. Kenney pointed out that hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants have to go through a two- to four-year process to gain entry and status in Canada.
The immigration minister said many Mexicans are rejected when they say they are fleeing violence, because the “violence is not in Canada’s hands to resolve.”
“I know many people that play the Canadian system,” admitted a Mexican homosexual granted political asylum who was quoted recently in an article in Milenio magazine. “I know many Latin Americans who arrive asking for refugee status and the first thing they do after receiving permanent residency is go back to their country for a holiday. I feel it is an abuse and massively disrespectful of a country that really worries about the protection of human rights.”
Toronto immigration lawyer El-Farouk Khaki accepts that there are substantial amounts of bogus claims from Mexico, but doesn’t believe that it is different from other countries and other waves of immigration: “It’s always been like this. After the Solidarity movement happened in Poland, boatloads were coming to Canada saying they were gay, communist or Jewish. There are bogus cases, there always will be. That’s why the refugee determination system is in place.”
Veronica Pardinas, a 30-year-old activist with No One is Illegal, was granted asylum in Canada and now lives in Toronto. She believes many refugee cases are now being rejected just because they are Mexican.
“I know of hundreds of cases of Mexicans claiming asylum,” Pardinas told this newspaper. “In 2005 the acceptance rate was about 53 percent and in the preceding years it’s gone down to eight percent.” (The national average acceptance rate for refugee claims is 34 percent. In contrast to Mexico, 84 percent of Colombian applications are accepted.)
“Hundreds of Mexicans are being deported day after day,” Pardinas said. “They are denied legal assistance; lawyers don’t want to take their cases because they know that they are going to be rejected and the majority only have about a year and a half with legal status. After that they go undercover because immigration searches for them to deport them. Many Mexicans today live (in Toronto) accepting exploitative jobs, without rights to health service, without sending their kids to school because of fear of deportation, and they live suffering classism, racism and discrimination.”
Khaki is also frustrated with the situation. He explained that in the past when there has been a large increase in refugee claims from a certain country, the Canadian government has put visa restrictions in place, but with Mexico it is more complicated because of Nafta – possibly explaining the dramatic decrease in the acceptance of refugees of Mexico.
“The reality is the Refugee Board is politically appointed, although the Canadian government would deny it,” says the Tanzania-born lawyer. “There is a tribunal process and they do make the decisions but sometimes it seems it doesn’t matter what witnesses you have, what human rights documents you bring, the case is rejected. It is highly frustrating.”
Originally from Leon, Guanajuato, Pardinas said she attempted to commit suicide as she tried to comes to terms with her sexuality. On “coming out” she says she suffered abuse from her boss and family for being a lesbian. The brother of her then partner physically attacked them both and threatened to kill them.
“My ex and I didn’t see any option apart from fleeing and so we left without anything,” Pardinas said. “It’s important to make clear that I denounced the events various times to the police and they never did anything. We had to put up with their homophobic comments.
“We thought about the United States but didn’t have visas and knew that in Canada gay people could get married and be free.”
The issue of Mexican asylum claims is a minefield and particularly difficult to address. If Canada accepts large numbers of Mexicans refugees for whatever reason, what does it say about the Mexican government’s ability to govern and society at large? And while President Felipe Calderon stresses Mexico’s positives, Canada’s acceptance of thousands of Mexican asylum seekers could seriously undermine the government, as well as the bilateral relationship.
The sad result of an increase in bogus refugee claims could be to the detriment of the majority of Mexicans. When Zimbabwean and Argentinean asylum claims went through the roof, the Canadian government made visas compulsory. It is considering doing the same as a result of the recent influx of Czech citizens (the majority of whom have been from the much persecuted Roma traveling people group). Relations would be severely damaged by such a decision, as well as the image of Canadian benevolence.
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