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### Viewing cable 08OTTAWA774, ASYLUM CLAIMS FROM THE AMERICAS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08OTTAWA774 | 2008-06-09 17:53 | 2011-04-28 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Ottawa

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    VZCZCXRO4699
    OO RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
    DE RUEHOT #0774/01 1611753
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    O 091753Z JUN 08
    FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7993
    INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 1319
    RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 1840
    RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 0160
    RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHMFIUU/HQ USNORTHCOM  PRIORITY
    RUEADRO/HQ ICE DRO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC PRIORITY

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    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000774

    SENSITIVE
    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PREF PREL CO MX HA CA
    SUBJECT: ASYLUM CLAIMS FROM THE AMERICAS

    REF: OTTAWA 645

    ¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Mexican citizens are now the largest
    single nationality claiming asylum in Canada, increasingly
    citing narco-violence instead of sexual discrimination.
    Haiti, Colombia, and the United States follow as source
    countries; the four countries account for 50% of asylum
    claims in Canada.  Colombian and Haitian claimants are
    notably more successful than Mexicans, since many of the
    claims of drug-related persecution appear not to be credible.
     An increasingly mobile Mexican middle class seeking
    opportunities elsewhere as well as loopholes in the
    U.S.-Canada Third Country Agreement present continued
    bilateral challenges.  End summary.

    THE MEXICAN/CANADIAN AXIS
    -------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada's
    (CIC) Asylum Policy Program, Canada since 2005 has seen more
    asylum claims from Mexican citizens than from any other
    nationality (reftel), receiving more than 7,000 Mexican
    claims in 2007 and an additional 2,400 claims in the first
    four months of 2008 alone, up from only 2,900 in 2004.  Among
    2008 claimants, approximately 53% applied at airports, 45%
    applied inland, and only 1% applied at a land border.  CIC
    attributes the rise in Mexican asylum claims -- especially at
    airports -- to the growing Mexican middle class, which is
    able to fly to Canada in search of better economic
    opportunities.  There are also increasing numbers of
    temporary foreign workers from Mexico in Canada, who often
    also seek to remain permanently.

    ¶3. (SBU) Discrimination based on sexual orientation had been
    the most common claim of applicants in 2005, but increasingly
    the claims cite risk of life, torture, or punishment due to
    drug-related violence.  One Canadian psychiatrist described
    to poloff a sharp rise over the past two years in Mexican
    patients claiming post-traumatic stress disorder; virtually
    all cases appear spurious.  Overall, Canada accepts only
    approximately 10% of Mexican applicants -- a low rate
    compared to applicants from other countries.  The highest
    percent of successful claims is related to domestic violence
    -- usually involving women who say Mexican police have failed
    to protect them from abusive husbands, sometimes even
    assisting in the abuse.  Canada's Immigration and Refugee
    Board (IRB), an independent administrative tribunal, sent a
    fact-finding mission to Mexico in November 2006 to determine
    the credibility of claims related to witnesses of crimes,
    public-sector corruption, domestic violence, and
    discrimination based on sexual orientation.  In February
    2007, researchers issued guidelines to help adjudicators
    determine the validity of claims, and the approval rates have
    subsequently declined.

    ¶4.  (SBU) Some Mexicans submit asylum claims when they first
    arrive in Canada, but withdraw them after they receive
    authorization to work or study; Mexicans also have the
    highest rate of abandonment of applications.  The Safe Third
    Country Agreement does not apply to individuals already in
    Canada or those who arrive by air or water -- or if an
    applicant has a relative who is a Canadian citizen, permanent
    resident, or protected person, or, in some cases, who has a
    work or study permit.

    ¶5. (SBU) According to the Mexican Embassy, the Mexican
    Q5. (SBU) According to the Mexican Embassy, the Mexican
    government believes that Canada's acceptance rate of Mexican
    asylum seekers is "unreasonably high," and that the vast
    majority of claims are not credible.

    AND THEN HAITI AND COLOMBIA
    ---------------------------

    ¶6. (SBU) Haiti is the second largest source of asylum claims
    in Canada.  Haitians, who are protected by a moratorium on
    deportations from Canada and thus also are not subject to the
    Safe Third Country Agreement, submitted 3,713 asylum claims
    in Canada in 2007.  During the first four months of 2008, an
    additional 1,371 Haitians submitted asylum claims, of whom
    93% arrived via the U.S.  Virtually all Haitians claiming
    asylum in Canada have lived in the U.S. for a number of years
    and have relatively high socio-economic status.  Canada
    accepts approximately 40% of Haitian asylum claims.

    OTTAWA 00000774  002 OF 002

    ¶7. (SBU) Colombia is Canada's third largest source of asylum
    claims.  Canada accepted 1,013 claims in the first four
    months of 2008, of whom 55% submitted inland and 42% at a
    land border.  Asylum claims from Colombia have risen 91% in
    the first five months of 2008, compared with the first five
    months of 2007.  Canada approves a relatively high percent of
    Colombian asylum claimants -- approximately 60%.  Colombian
    asylum-seekers range from low-level workers employed by drug
    cartels, to upper-class Colombians.  The majority of cases
    involve claims related to narco-violence and instability.
    According to the Colombian Embassy, most claimants come from
    conflict zones and include former military, para-militaries,
    and individuals fleeing violence.  The Colombian government
    accepts that many have a legitimate fear of persecution,
    while believing that most could probably find a region of
    Colombia where they would not be in harm's way.  Some in the
    44,000-person Colombian community in Canada have recently
    begun to return to Colombia as the violence abates, leading
    the Colombian Embassy to predict that the Canadian government
    will be more restrictive with claimants in the future.

    EVEN FROM THE U.S.
    ------------------

    ¶8. (SBU) Asylum seekers from the U.S. are also on the rise in
    Canada, representing the fourth highest source of claims.
    Nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens filed asylum claims in Canada in
    2007, and 794 more have submitted claims during the first
    four months of 2008.  The majority of American claimants were
    children of parents who had been living in the U.S.
    illegally, and eventually decided to claim asylum in Canada,
    along with their children.  The majority of these families
    were originally from Haiti or Colombia, so some of the
    statistics might double-count them.  While Canada initially
    classifies the U.S. citizen children as U.S. claimants, later
    in the adjudication process it groups family members together
    in one case, rendering it impossible to calculate the exact
    percent of purely U.S. claims.  The IRB, however, estimated
    that Canada approves approximately only 5% of U.S. citizen
    asylum claims.  About 40 claims have come from U.S. soldiers
    fleeing the Iraq war, but Canada had not approved any, and
    the Canadian Supreme Court recently rejected deserters'
    claims to asylum.

    COMMENT
    -------

    ¶9. (SBU) The cross-border travel of many of these claimants
    highlights the need for continued close coordination between
    the U.S. and Canada on these policies -- as well as some
    notable loopholes in the Safe Third Agreement -- as continued
    challenges to both governments seeking to help legitimate
    claimants while stopping bogus asylum shoppers.

    Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at
    http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada

    BREESE

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