A national refugee plan could reduce homelessness

A group representing more than 200 organizations working with asylum seekers and refugees went to Ottawa to ask for a national plan to welcome asylum seekers. And thus avoid tragedies like the one in Ontario, where two asylum seekers died due to lack of adequate housing.

“The only crisis there is is not the arrival of asylum seekers, it is the lack of planning,” says Gauri Sreenivasan, director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. The system is overflowing because there is no plan.”

The alliance of defenders of the rights of asylum seekers proposes to create reception centers for asylum seekers, to subsidize temporary housing for them to live in, to expand their eligibility for services, to give them access to legal aid, and to simplify the process they must go through.

M^Me Sreenivasan believes that the issue of the number and volume of arrivals is only a problem because there is no coordination across Canada. The co-director of the Canadian Council for Refugees therefore urges the federal government to change the situation in a press conference held in Ottawa.

“We know that we have the staff to receive these people, but the lack of planning leads us to failure,” she believes.

The organizers say they are exasperated because the solutions exist, in their opinion.

“The rights of asylum seekers are not yet respected in Canada,” says Gauri Sreenivasan. There is no system in place to properly house them [...] and politicians are falsely calling [their presence] a “crisis” [their presence].”

This day celebrates the recognition of refugee status by the Supreme Court of Canada on April 4, 1985. Since then, some organizations believe that Canada is failing to properly receive these people who are fleeing wars, conflicts or persecution in their country of origin.

Knowing that more than 70% of asylum seekers are accepted as refugees, it is important to welcome those who will end up staying in the country, believes the Canadian Council for Refugees. In 2023, more than 140,000 asylum applications were filed in Canada, including 65,000 in Quebec.

Reached by phone in Ottawa, Lauren Langlais, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, believes that time is running out.

“If these people are having a lot of trouble in the first few years after coming to Canada, there are very severe repercussions in the years that follow,” she says. And if we know that people are going to arrive at the border or the airport to ask for asylum, we know that we need to have a system in place to welcome them.”

Jenny Jeanes, interim director of Action Réfugiés Montréal, tries to illustrate these ideas with an example: “With Ukrainian refugees, we had a plan in place” — which made it possible to welcome thousands of people fleeing the war without much hassle.

‍

Five ideas to make a difference

Better housing asylum seekers, giving them access to legal aid and allowing them to receive a series of services that already exist for refugees are all steps that would alleviate their situation in Canada, according to officials at the Canadian Council for Refugees.

“We have been making representations to the government to have a plan of this kind for several years,” recalls Mr.^Me Lallemand.

‍

Federal hotels, a false good idea

One of the most pressing issues related to the reception of asylum seekers is the issue of housing. “Across the country, civil society has a network of 35 centres that offer short-term emergency accommodation to asylum seekers,” adds Mr.^Me Lallemand. She estimates that it costs a fraction of the price Ottawa currently pays to house asylum seekers in hotels.

These organizations, such as Kinbrace, some of whose representatives were met by La Converse in Vancouver, or Matthew House in Ottawa, have the expertise to properly welcome and guide asylum seekers. “With an increase in federal funds, these structures already in place would do a lot of good,” says the co-director general of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

For Allan Reesor McDowell, managing director of Matthew House, it costs $35 per person per day, or about $1,000 per month, to welcome asylum seekers into his shelter.

“For this amount, we offer food, a bed, access to lawyers, access to lawyers, adapted services, assistance in obtaining a work permit and a job search service,” he lists, before adding that this type of initiative also allows people who have fled often difficult realities to recreate a community.

‍According to figures put forward by Matthew House, federal hotels cost $5,000 to $6,000 per month per person.

And centers dedicated to asylum seekers would ensure that they would not go to emergency shelters for homeless people or risk becoming homeless themselves.

“As of March 11, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has more than 4,000 hotel rooms in 6 provinces — including 2,499 rooms in 16 hotels in Ontario and 1,317 in 13 hotels in Quebec — to provide temporary accommodation to asylum seekers, a ministry spokesperson tells us. These accommodations are offered until asylum seekers are able to find longer-term housing.”

“It's an expense of money,” says Loly Rico, founder of FCJ Refugee Centre in Ontario. The hotels are private companies and it would be worth having dedicated centers managed by the federal government.”

For her part, Jenny Jeanes, from Action Réfugiés Montréal, recalls that many asylum seekers stay longer than necessary in hotels paid for by Ottawa because they cannot find housing.

‍

“Lost” in a complex system

The lack of coordination has real consequences, say the activists, who recall that two asylum seekers died last month in the Greater Toronto Area due to a lack of support. “Asylum seekers find themselves lost in a complex system,” believes Mr.^Me Sreenivasan.

“Many people don't realize the complexity of applying for asylum,” adds Mr.^Me Jeanes, who emphasizes the difficulties faced by those who have just arrived in the country seeking the protection of the Canadian state.

That is why the Canadian Council for Refugees wants legal aid to be adapted and offered to these people. “There is a shortage of legal aid services across the country,” says Mr. M.^Me Jeans. It is essential that asylum seekers receive legal services in order to be well represented before the Refugee Tribunal.”

Repressive border measures, since the strengthening of the Safe Third Country Agreement in 2023, which led to the closure of Roxham Road, have also claimed the lives of asylum seekers.

Recall that, according to the Safe Third Country Agreement, signed in 2002 by the United States and Canada, asylum seekers must file their application in the first country they arrive in. Why? Because the two North American countries consider each other to be safe.

However, it suffices to think of Fritznel Richard, a Haitian national who died crossing the border, Ana Karen Vasquez-Flores, a Mexican national who died five months pregnant in the same circumstances, the eight members of the Iordache and Chaudhary family and, more recently, Ndogo Sarry and Abdoulaye Ndoye, both from Senegal, to put this safety into perspective.

“It is high time to change things”, concludes Mr.^Me Sreenivasan.

‍