15/01/2025 – Webinar: The Canada-United States safe third country agreement: A critical legal perspective (MPC)

Abstract:

Managing asylum claims in ways that are fair, practical, and aligned with international law is a sensitive issue for many countries. Taking the perspective of Canada, Professor Mayrand will present in this seminar the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement and the issues it raises from a critical legal lens.

This agreement, which came into force in 2004, requires asylum seekers to make their refugee claim in the first country they reach between Canada and the United States, subject to specific exceptions. The stated objectives of the agreement are to share responsibility between Canada and the United States for processing refugee claims and to set a procedure for the orderly processing of these claims, while protecting the human rights of refugee claimants. In this seminar, Professor Mayrand questions whether these objectives are indeed achieved.

The first question the speaker will address is whether the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement contributes to the orderly processing of refugee claims. Data from the Canada Border Agency indicate that the agreement does not prevent irregular migration, and could in fact contribute to the phenomenon. As explained in the seminar, this is the case even following the amendment of the agreement in 2023.

The second issue that will be discussed is whether the agreement fully protects the human rights of refugee claimants. Two constitutional challenges brought before Canadian federal courts attempted to invalidate the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement. While these proceedings did not succeed, with the latest decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2023, there are remaining human rights concerns that will be presented.