Anyone wishing to apply for asylum from Canada must now create an online account and submitting your claims through a computer portal, a change advocates warn will create chaos and make the asylum less accessible.
According to an email from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to refugee lawyers this week, the Canada Refugee Protection Portal, or CRPP, was launched as the only means for people already in Canada submit an application beginning October 6. .
Through the system, claimants can create an account, complete a questionnaire, and submit supporting documents, including their completed claim basis form, online. It is also where requests can be made to attend refugee claim interviews, as well as appointments for immigration medical examinations and fingerprinting.
“The CRPP improves customer service and increases the efficiency of processing refugee applications in Canada, focusing on the admission of refugees, by allowing applicants to submit their application online,” officials said in the email.
“The CRPP also ensures that clients submit complete information, which reduces correspondence between department and clients and allows IRCC to make faster eligibility decisions.”
The digital shift has taken refugee lawyers by surprise, as they say they learned of the change through government email on Wednesday, without prior consultation.
Some are already foreseeing problems in the future for applicants to access the online asylum system due to technology and language barriers.
“It will lead to some people just not claiming refugee status and just being here in Canada,” says Toronto refugee lawyer Raoul Boulakia. “We all want the system to work, but it is wise to work together, not to surprise people.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not return a request for comment before the deadline.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, 8,624 new claims were received in the first six months of this year, with a total of 63,420 cases pending in the system, from a peak of 87,270 at the end of 2019, before the pandemic slowed down. and restrict. Travel to Canada.
Canada has received a wave of complaints since 2016 fueled by the anti-refugee policies of former US President Donald Trump, which prompted many migrants to come to this country seeking protection through unguarded land border entry points. .
In 2019, the liberal federal government provided $ 204 million over two years to address the surge in refugee applications, money that allowed the refugee board to hire more judges and support staff to process the cases.
The global pandemic has wreaked havoc on Canada’s immigration system, but the refugee board has sheltered itself from chaos due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and seen its refugee admission drop significantly.
In response to the pandemic, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino has been inclined to modernize the overall immigration system “improving our technology, digitizing more of our operations and increasing the amount of processing that occurs virtually.”
“The CRPP will be a big change for clients and attorneys; however, it is necessary to address the large percentage of incomplete claims that IRCC receives, ”the immigration department said in its email to refugee attorneys.
“Our expectation is that the portal will help reduce processing times for eligibility decisions, which also means more timely referral of refugee applications to the IRB and the issuance of work permits.”
An independent review from 2018 called for a structural review of the refugee board, but changing the submission of asylum applications online was not studied or recommended in the report.
During the pandemic, due to the blockade, the immigration department began accepting asylum offers from applicants or through their lawyers by email, which allowed them to correspond and send documents through the Canada Post epost portal.
University of British Columbia law professor Efrat Arbel said the refugee system as it stands is already difficult to navigate as migrants must struggle to obtain necessary documentation, basic translation services and the legal support to continue.
Added to that, now it will be to secure Internet access, have a laptop scanner, fill out forms on a portal and upload documents, he said, and any mistakes could lead to bureaucratic nightmares.
Asylum seekers generally consult attorneys to help them with their claims, but their friends or community groups help them fill out the forms before their attorney reviews the file to make sure everything is completed correctly.
With the new portal, claimants must create an account with their own email address, fill out the web forms page by page, step by step. It can be difficult for your attorneys to sit at the computer with them because they are only covered for legal assistance during limited hours.
The shift to requiring everything to be done online creates yet another barrier for asylum seekers, said Arbel, who teaches refugee, prison and constitutional law.
“I am concerned that this requirement will hamper the ability of asylum seekers to submit their application in a timely and effective manner and may end up creating this broader barrier that prohibits those with legitimate and urgent protection needs from submitting their applications in the best possible way. , ” she said.
Additionally, any delays in registering online will also cause delays for potential applicants to access the social and community services, government assistance, and work permits they need to work legally while they wait for their claims to be heard.
“I think we can absolutely anticipate delays and those delays have profound consequences for the lives of the people who are affected by them,” Arbel said. “I absolutely anticipate the bureaucratic burdens as a result of the mistakes made, but more importantly, the mistakes carry enormous weight.”
Boulakia said she was trying to help a client through the new portal to start an online asylum application, but had to quit because it was too cumbersome and a lot of detailed information was requested at the front.
“You are literally typing in the form on the Internet and trying to do this. You are going to make a lot of mistakes. You are going to write something that will be full of inconsistent or incomplete stuff when you are pressed to register, ”said Boulakia.
“Inevitably there will be many loopholes. And he will get stuck with it, so he will be rejected for it. “
Toronto immigration attorney Robert Blanshay called the change an “utter surprise” and a “tectonic movement,” and said he has already heard from colleagues that they were blocked from the portal and cannot imagine how claimants can navigate the system themselves. .
“The conclusion is that it is a problem of access to justice. My God, this is just to start a claim, ”said Blanshay, who is also on the executive committee of the immigration division of the Canadian Bar Association, but only speaks on his own behalf.
“If this blocks, delays or jeopardizes a human being’s ability to express their desire to initiate a refugee claim, we have a problem on our hands. The system is supposed to be designed to make it easier and faster, not harder, more complex and slower. “
According to the email from the immigration department, those who have already made a claim through the old email system do not need to transfer their case to the new portal.
Reference-www.thestar.com