Detention of asylum seekers in Canada

Janet Cleveland, PhD

CSSS de la Montagne Research Centre (McGill University)

Trends – detention and removals

Detention Fluctuates (linked to numbers of new arrivals) No trend towards increase in detentions Proportion of asylum seekers: stable around 43% of all

detentions (2004-2011)

Removals From 2005 to 2008: stable at 12,000 per year 2011-2012: 16,500 % of failed claimants: stable around 73% of all removals

Refugee claims acceptance rate Fluctuates - average 2002-2011: 42% 2010 and 2011: 38%

Categories of detained migrants

Asylum seekers (claim not yet adjudicated) Detained at the outset of the refugee claim process

Failed claimants Detained pending removal

Non-citizens convicted of certain crimes Detained pending removal

Non-citizens detained under security certificates

Detention of asylum seekers - overview

About 8% of asylum seekers detained on making their claim Grounds for detention

Danger/security/criminality < 6% Location

Immigration holding centres (IHCs) – 72% Only 2 long-term IHCs (Toronto & Montreal)

Jails – 28% Indefinite duration

28 days (average) Detention reviews

2 days, then 7 days, then every 30 days Limited review power, especially in identity cases

Immigration holding centres Medium-security jailsMedium-security jails Guards, cameras, searches, locked doors, personal effects Guards, cameras, searches, locked doors, personal effects

confiscatedconfiscated Separate wings: men, women, ‘family’Separate wings: men, women, ‘family’ Rigid rules, tight control Rigid rules, tight control

Ex.: refusal to get up punished by 24-hour solitary confinementEx.: refusal to get up punished by 24-hour solitary confinement No mental health screening or counselling If suicidal

24/7 surveillance in segregation, or transfer to jail Handcuffs during transport, including to hospitalHandcuffs during transport, including to hospital

Minors and pregnant women exemptedMinors and pregnant women exempted Sometimes during medical procedures (e.g., dental surgery)Sometimes during medical procedures (e.g., dental surgery)

Detention of migrant children

2005-2010: average number detained per year Total minors detained: around 650 Asylum seeker & refused claimant minors: around 400

+ Children "accompanying" parents

+ Children in foster care while parent(s) detained

Trends?

New detention policiesProtecting Canada’s Immigration System Act

Group arrivals designated as ‘irregular’ by Minister• Suspected smuggling OR unable to process in timely manner• Mandatory detention until final determination of refugee claim

• Detention review after 14 days, then 6 months• Children 16-18 incarcerated as if they were adults• Children under 16

- Informal detention with mother or foster care• 5-year bar on permanent resident application, family sponsorship,

travel• First use: December 5, 2012First use: December 5, 2012

• 5 groups of Romanian asylum seekers5 groups of Romanian asylum seekers

New detention policies (cont.)

‘Ordinary’ detentions• Faster claims process

• ‘Ordinary’ claims: hearing by 60 days, then appeal• Designated Countries of Origin (DCO): 45 days, no appeal • First DCO list - December 15, 2012 - 26 countries

• Easier to detain during entire processCBSA Detention & Removals Programs Evaluation Report, Nov. 2010

• “(…) an expedited refugee determination process, including removal of failed refugee claimants, will be implemented. (…) As the new Act eliminates automatic stay of removal for people from a designated country of origin while a judicial review is pending and for manifestly unfounded claims, detention will remain a key tool for ensuring that failed refugee claimants do not evade removal from Canada, particularly when the risk of the individual going underground is high.”

• 10% increase in detentions anticipated

Context of ‘anti-smuggling’ legislation

Sept. 2008 – May 2009: final phase of Sri Lankan civil war 330,000 civilians trapped in war zone Post-war: survivors detained in army camps

October 2009: 76 Tamil asylum seekers arrive on the Ocean Lady August 2010: 492 Tamil asylum seekers arrive on the Sun Sea

(63 women, 49 children) All detained: adults in jails, children with mothers in secure youth

custody facility Average detention: about 5 months Repeated interrogations by Canadian Border Services Agency Protracted legal battles around release

October 2010: ‘Anti-smuggling’ bill Mandatory detention, 1 year minimum

Sun Sea interviews (2011)

21 interviews post-detention Severe premigration trauma

- Lack of food/water in Sri Lanka and on ship (21)- Months of heavy shelling, saw other people killed, had relatives

or friends who were killed, been homeless, forcibly confined (19)- Torture (15)

- Ex. hung upside down for hours, lowered into water trough, beaten with plastic pipes filled with sand

In Canada- Lengthy detention- Repeated interrogation

The worst thing that happened to me here was that CBSA kept asking me

questions about the incident that caused me so much heartbreak.

We were all in a bunker dug in the ground. There was another family there,

with small children. There was not enough room for everyone so we gave

the best protected place to the small children. A shell fell on us. My uncle

died that day, and so did my grandparents who had brought me up. My

mother got shrapnel in her leg and was not able to walk. My aunt also. All

those who were not completely inside the bunker were injured or killed.

CBSA asked me again and again to repeat this story, again and again,

although I was crying. It caused me so much distress and pain.

Young woman from the Sun Sea, detained 4 months. Two years after this incident, she still had nightmares about it almost every night.

Sun Sea migrants – symptoms

About 75% report sleep problems, nightmares and/or intrusive memories of war trauma or torture, intrusive fears of being sent back or detained, intrusive fears for family back home

Several report nightmares relating to detention and interrogation in Canada

Other vulnerabilities Couple with severely handicapped child Pregnant women Physical injuries linked to war or torture Pre-existing psychiatric problems

Study: Mental health of detained adult asylum seekers(2010-2011)

• 122 detained asylum seekers• Immigration Holding Centres in Montreal and Toronto

• Time detained at interview• 18 days (median), 31 days (average)

• 66 nondetained asylum seekers: Comparison group• Mental health questionnaires and interviews

Findings• Trauma exposure: high (average 9 events) and equivalent in the two

groups• Significantly higher symptom levels in detained group

Mental health symptoms:% above clinical threshold

Detained Nondetained

Post-traumatic stress

32% 18%

Depression 78% 52%

Anxiety 63% 47%

Do you have thoughts or memories that come to you a lot, that you

think about again and again?

I still up till now have some memories and it is not easy to disappear,

especially for my father, how my father get killed. It’s like I see it

again. I’m dreaming every day. In my mind I don’t believe and I

sometimes think I can see again my father. You feel sad? Yes, I feel

sad. (He starts to weep). I feel angry sometimes. He’s the only

person who help me, he help me too much. I try to forget but it’s not

easy, I remember many things. If my father not die I would be with

him, I wouldn’t be here. My father loved me. He did so much for me.

In Somalia, hard to go to school, and he fight for me to go to school.

He’s my everything. He help me for everything.

Somali youth, detained 2 months

Study conclusions

• High level of premigration trauma exposure Potentially vulnerable population

• Even brief detention is associated with significantly higher levels of PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms

• Men in detention just as distressed as women

• Reasons for high distress levels• Disempowerment, loss of agency, uncertainty• Isolation• Being treated like a criminal

• Protective factors: Hope of a new and safer life