The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday upheld the validity of an immigration agreement that allows Canadian authorities to bar asylum seekers arriving from the United States from entering the country. The Safe Third Country Agreement, implemented in 2004, states that asylum seekers must apply in the first safe country they arrive in.
The judges unanimously ruled that the agreement “does not violate asylum seekers’ rights to liberty and security.” In July 2020, a federal court declared the agreement legally invalid, arguing that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because of the poor detention conditions faced by those being returned to the United States.
Although asylum seekers face “real and not speculative risks” upon being returned to the United States, the Canadian legal framework provides safeguards to protect against such risks, Justice Nicholas Kasirer said in his decision on Friday.
Amnesty International Canada urged Ottawa to withdraw from the agreement as soon as possible, arguing that the Safe Third Country Agreement puts refugees, especially those fleeing gender-based persecution, at serious risk.
Since March, migrants have been turned back along the Canada-US border. In 2022, about 40,000 migrants arrived from the United States through this crossing.