Supreme Court says Safe Third Country Agreement is constitutional
OTTAWA — Canada’s Supreme Court said Friday the agreement between Canada and the U.S. that stipulates asylum seekers must seek refugee status in the first “safe” country they reach is constitutional.
That means the Safe Third Country Agreement stays in place, and border officials will continue to turn back refugee claimants seeking to cross into Canada, if they arrived in the U.S. first.
Canada and the United States signed the agreement in 2002. Under the agreement, asylum seekers are turned away if they attempt to cross into Canada from the U.S. at a land border crossing and vice versa, with only a few exceptions.
The appellants, including refugee claimants and human rights and refugee groups, had argued designating the U.S. as a safe third country violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A loophole in the agreement led to thousands of migrants crossing into Canada each year through unofficial border crossings, including the infamous Roxham Road, drawing political pressure to close the crossing. In March, Canada and the U.S. extended the deal to cover irregular crossings.
