First-come, first-served basis for asylum claims

File Photo, Matthew Payen
At the end of the rang Roxham, Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, in Montérégie, customs agents and the royal Canadian mounted police intercepted the migrants passing the border during the summer of 2017.

QMI agency

Tuesday, 20 February 2018 21:39

UPDATE
Tuesday, 20 February 2018 21:39

Look at this article

OTTAWA, on | in Front of the number of cases of asylum applications continues to grow, the immigration and refugee board of Canada (IRB) has decided to adopt the principle of “first come, first served”.

The IRB explained on Tuesday that applications for asylum will now be processed “in the order in which they were received”. “The Commission will make exceptions for priority requests (in particular for unaccompanied minors or other vulnerable persons)”, has, however, said the IRB in a press release.

Since December 2012, the Commission had to give priority to new cases compared to the older. However, the significant rise in the number of asylum applications to Canada has resulted in waiting times will be longer and longer.

“Many asylum seekers are awaiting their hearing for a long time. Given the current situation, educating our asylum requests in the order in which they were referred, while making room for efficiency gains, is the right thing to do”, explained the vice-president of the Section of the refugee protection division of the IRB, Shereen Benzvy Miller.

The IRB has stated that, on average, 2100 cases of delay are added monthly, from January 2017, with a peak of 6200 records in September 2017. At the time of booting 2018, it took about 20 months of waiting before being able to plead his case before the administrative court.