Human-rights advocates pan budget plan to detain immigrants in federal prisons

OTTAWA — Human-rights groups are urging Ottawa to reverse course on plans to allow immigrant detention in federal prisons, saying vulnerable people could be exposed to unreasonably harsh conditions.

“We’re concerned that all of these changes are being rammed through (in) a budget bill,” Amnesty International campaigner Julia Sande said at a news conference on Parliament Hill.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said under the budget measure to allow detention in prisons, immigrants would be held in areas separate from criminal offenders.

Ottawa can detain foreigners without charge when they can’t be identified or when immigration officers suspect they won’t show up to hearings to determine whether they can stay in Canada.

Provinces have pulled out of agreements that allowed Ottawa to house foreigners in their jails, while the federal government runs just three centres that can hold foreigners who are not facing criminal charges.

Last month’s budget described the proposal as seeking “to enable the use of federal correctional facilities for the purpose of high-risk immigration detention.” The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act already allows the Canada Border Services Agency to detain foreign nationals if officers suspect they will skip an admissibility hearing.

Critics have argued that these criteria are too vague, such as suspecting that foreigners claiming asylum who don’t know anyone in Canada will avoid a hearing that might result in them being deported.

The law also allows border guards to detain people they believe are barred from entering Canada for committing a crime or violating human rights, such as taking part in atrocities abroad.

Samer Muscati, an advocate with Human Rights Watch, said these detainees don’t have the same rights or oversight as criminals in Canada’s jails. 

He noted the case of Victor Vinnetou, a man believed to be from South Africa who spent more than 11 years in detention.

“People in immigration detention are subjected to widespread human-rights violations. They are regularly handcuffed, shackled and held with little to no contact with the outside world,” Muscati said.

“Because there is no legal limit on the duration of immigration detention, people are at risk of being incarcerated indefinitely.”

Advocates from both groups, along with Citizens for Public Justice, want Ottawa to fund more spots for grassroots groups that house foreigners. They say foreigners should never be incarcerated without a criminal charge.

The federal budget also announced legislative changes “to simplify and streamline” asylum claims “in support of faster decisions and quicker removals” by way of deporting those who don’t qualify for refugee status in Canada.

Sande lamented that the Liberals have proposed these changes in an omnibus bill.

“This will make it less likely that the horrific human-rights impacts of the government’s plans will receive the proper attention and scrutiny that they deserve,” she said.

Miller stressed Tuesday there won’t be “overnight” changes, but he said it’s crucial to improve processing times so that people claiming asylum have a reasonable timeline for learning whether they can stay in Canada.

“There are efficiencies within the system that I think we can take a look at; they obviously have to follow due process,” he said.

“They will need, obviously, scrutiny from the House (of Commons).”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press