Human Rights Watch Report on Immigrant Abuse in Canada

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Thu, 2021-06-17 20:43

jerrym

Humans Rights Watch has released a 100-page report of the impact on the mental health of immigrants of Canada's detention policies entitled “ ‘I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There’: Immigration Detention in Canada and Its Impact on Mental Health”. The report documents the abuse of people in immigration detention that results in them being "regularly handcuffed, shackled, and held with little to no contact with the outside world." Often they have no set release date and are held for months or years, with many placed in provincial jails with the rest of the jail population or even placed in solitary confinement. Those or mental health problems experience face even furthre discrimination. The fact that many more have been released during Covid to prevent the spread of infection without a rise in crime or other problems shows that this detention is not necessary for the vast majority of detainees. However, for "those who remained incarcerated, conditions of detention became harsher". It is therefore time to change the long-term policies to release many more immigrants than in the past as Covid ends and to treat those still detained much better.

Despite its reputation as a refugee-welcoming and multicultural country, Canada incarcerates thousands of people on immigration-related grounds every year, including people who are fleeing persecution, those seeking employment and a better life, and people who have lived in Canada since childhood. Immigration detainees are held for non-criminal purposes but endure some of the most restrictive conditions of confinement in the country, including maximum security jails and solitary confinement, with no set release date.

Figures from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reveal that the number of immigration detainees incarcerated in Canada has increased every fiscal year between 2016-17 and 2019-20, peaking in fiscal year 2019-20 with a total of 8,825 people in immigration detention. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Canadian authorities have released immigration detainees at unprecedented rates, providing clear evidence that there are viable alternatives to depriving people of their liberty for indeterminate periods of time. For many of those who remained incarcerated, conditions of detention became harsher, with far more frequent lockdowns and limited access to phones and showers. During the first year of the pandemic, immigration detainees went on hunger strike three times at the Montreal-area immigration holding center. The full report can be read at the url below.

CBSA has sweeping police powers–including the powers of arrest, detention, and search and seizure–but it remains the only major law enforcement agency in Canada without independent civilian oversight to review policies or investigate misconduct. CBSA’s mistreatment of immigration detainees is widely reported across Canada by legal representatives, advocates, mental health professionals, frontline workers supporting immigration detainees, and former immigration detainees themselves.

The agency has full discretion over where immigration detainees are held. Between fiscal years 2016-17 and 2019-20, approximately two-thirds of immigration detainees were held in immigration holding centers, which resemble medium security prisons dedicated exclusively to immigration detainees, in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. During this period, CBSA also incarcerated thousands of immigration detainees–1,932 in 2019-20 alone–in provincial jails, alongside criminally accused individuals awaiting court proceedings and criminally convicted individuals serving sentences of up to two years. Many of these provincial jails are maximum-security facilities. A minority of immigration detainees were held in other facilities, such as police stations. Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, CBSA held about half of all immigration detainees in provincial jails, up from about a fifth of detainees prior to the pandemic.

While immigration detainees are not serving criminal sentences, they are often treated like people incarcerated for criminal offences: handcuffed, shackled, searched, subjected to solitary confinement, and restricted to small spaces with rigid routines and under constant surveillance, with severely limited access to the outside world. In provincial jails, many immigration detainees are confined in tense and even dangerous environments where they may be subjected to violence. Immigration detainees who are from communities of color, particularly detainees who are Black, appear to be incarcerated for longer periods in immigration detention and they are often detained in provincial jails rather than immigration holding centers.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/06/17/i-didnt-feel-human-there/immigrati...

Sat, 2021-06-19 03:15

jerrym

Canada's record on dealing with immigrants is often one of abuse.

Canada incarcerates thousands of people, including those with disabilities, on immigration-related grounds every year in often abusive conditions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today in a joint report ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20.

The 100-page report, “‘I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There’: Immigration Detention in Canada and Its Impact on Mental Health,” documents how people in immigration detention, including those fleeing persecution and seeking protection in Canada, are regularly handcuffed, shackled, and held with little to no contact with the outside world. With no set release date, they can be held for months or years. Many are held in provincial jails with the regular jail population and are often subjected to solitary confinement. Those with psychosocial disabilities – or mental health conditions – experience discrimination throughout the process.

“Canada’s abusive immigration detention system is in stark contrast to the rich diversity and the values of equality and justice that Canada is known for globally,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. “Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch call on the Canadian authorities to end the inhumane treatment of people in the immigration and refugee protection system by gradually ending immigration detention in Canada.”

The research included 90 interviews with former immigration detainees and their relatives, mental health experts, academics, lawyers, civil society representatives, and government officials. Researchers also reviewed relevant reports and UN documents, as well as unpublished government documents obtained through 112 access to information requests.

Immigration detainees are not held on criminal charges or convictions, but many experience the country’s most restrictive confinement conditions, including maximum-security provincial jails and solitary confinement. They are handcuffed, shackled, searched, and restricted to small spaces with rigid routines and under constant surveillance. ...

Between April 2019 and March 2020, Canada locked up 8,825 people between the ages of 15 and 83, including 1,932 in provincial jails. In the same period, another 136 children were “housed” in detention to avoid separating them from their detained parents, including 73 under age 6. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that, since 2016, Canada has held more than 300 immigration detainees for longer than a year.

“Canada prides itself on welcoming refugees and newcomers with open arms, even though it’s one of the few countries in the global north where people seeking safety risk being locked up indefinitely,” said Samer Muscati, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “This leaves many without the certainty – or even hope – of knowing when they will be free again, which can have a devastating impact on their mental health.”

The groups found that people with psychosocial disabilities are more likely to be detained in provincial jails rather than immigration holding centers. In Ontario provincial jails, they are often placed in solitary confinement. They may not be allowed to make independent decisions about their legal matters, with legally appointed representatives making decisions on their behalf. Many also face significant barriers to release and, once they are released, must adhere to stricter release conditions, which can lead to re-arrest if breached.

The groups also found that many immigration detainees develop suicidal thoughts as they begin to lose hope that they will be released. Those fleeing traumatic experiences and persecution are particularly affected. Many former immigration detainees continue to live with the effects of psychosocial disabilities they developed during incarceration months and even years after their release.

Immigration detainees who are from communities of color, particularly detainees who are Black, appear to be held for longer periods, often in provincial jails. In 2019 the largest portion of immigration detainees held for longer than 90 days was from countries in Africa. ...

The Canadian government should stop holding people with physical or psychosocial disabilities in immigration detention, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. No one should be treated in a punitive manner for immigration-related reasons, including being held in solitary confinement or facilities used for criminal law enforcement, such as jails, or in jail-like facilities.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/17/canada-abuse-discrimination-immigrat...

Tue, 2021-06-22 20:47

jerrym

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International report that the Canadian government detains people of colour and asylum seeking immigrants in abusive conditions to a higher extent than other groups.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say Canada detains thousands of asylum seekers every year in often abusive conditions where people of colour appear to be held for longer periods.

The two leading human rights organizations documented in a joint report how people in immigration detention, including those fleeing persecution and seeking protection in Canada, are regularly handcuffed, shackled and held with little to no contact with the outside world.

The secretary general of Amnesty International Canada said the country's abusive immigration detention system is in stark contrast to the rich diversity and the values of equality and justice that Canada is known for. ...

Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, said Canada should sign and ratify the United Nations' Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture to further prevent violations and open detention sites for international inspection.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are calling on the Canadian authorities to gradually end immigration detention in Canada, she added.

The 100-page report said people can be held for months or years on immigration-related grounds. Detainees who are from communities of colour, particularly Black detainees, appear to be held for longer periods, often in provincial jails. The report said Canada locked up 8,825 people between the ages of 15 and 83, including 1,932 in provincial jails, between April 2019 and March 2020. During the same period, 136 children were put in detention to avoid separating them from their detained parents, including 73 children under age six. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that Canada has held more than 300 immigration detainees for longer than a year since 2016. ...

The report includes 90 interviews with former immigration detainees and their relatives, mental health experts, academics, lawyers, civil society representatives and government officials. The names of most of the detainees were withheld to protect them from reprisals by immigration authorities, the report said.

"I didn't feel like a human in there: I felt like a dog. The guards would just open the latch to feed me," said one former detainee, who was held in an Ontario jail in 2020. "When we mixed with Canadian inmates in jail, they asked us why we are there. They thought we were Taliban. We explained that we are fleeing the Taliban," said another former detainee, who was held in a Nova Scotia jail after coming to Canada in 2017. "I chose Canada because I thought it was welcoming to refugees. I thought Canada was better than this."

Many asylum seekers are held in provincial jails with the regular jail population and are often subjected to solitary confinement, the report said, and those with psychosocial disabilities or mental health conditions experience discrimination.

Samer Muscati, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch, said Canada is one of the few countries in the global north where people seeking safety risk being locked up indefinitely.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/asylum-seekers-detention-canada-1.6069327