Lawsuit alleges the former designated country of origin policy made it more difficult for asylum claimants who were coming from countries that had been predetermined as ‘safe’
The federal government knowingly discriminated against tens of thousands of refugee claimants over the course of several years, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of former asylum seekers in Canada.
“It perpetuated the negative stereotype that refugee claimants from DCO countries were somehow ‘queue-jumpers’ and ‘bogus’ refugees who only came to Canada to take advantage of its refugee system and its generosity.” Applicants from “safe” countries also faced additional challenges not faced by other refugee claimants. For instance, they were denied access to health care, and barred from obtaining work permits for the first 180 days. After a decision was made in their case, they were barred from making an appeal. And while other refugee claimants facing deportation could apply for a new assessment after one year, these applicants had to wait for three.
One of the plaintiffs, Mr. Kaczor, first arrived in Canada from Poland in January, 2018. He applied for refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation, citing extensive abuse and harassment he’d experienced as a gay man in Poland. By the time the government stopped implementing the list in 2019, legal challenges from refugee advocates had already struck down key aspects of the policy. In 2014, the Federal Court ruled that denying health care to applicants was unconstitutional. The next year, the Federal Court ruled that denying applicants the right to appeal was also a violation of the Charter.
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