Canadians are piling toys outside the immigration ministerās constituency office in protest of the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States.
On Wednesday, which marked World Refugee Day, on the lawn of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussenās constituency office in Toronto.
In light of the Trump administrationās āzero-toleranceā immigration policy, protestors are calling on Hussen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the Safe Third Country Agreement, which allows Canada to deny refugees asylum if they are crossing from the U.S.
The agreement was established in 2002 as a way for both countries to better manage the flow of refugee claims. It was founded on the āsafe third countryā principle, under which a country may turn down a refugee application if the applicant has already been granted asylum by another country. Both the U.S. and Canada are permitted to deny refugees asylum if they are entering from the other country.
The U.S. Department of Justice has adopted a zero-tolerance policy in which anyone caught entering the U.S. illegally is criminally prosecuted. Children of these migrants are separated and detained. Recent reports suggest more than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents and are being held in shelters.
Critics argue that this policy means the U.S. is no longer safe for refugees and are calling for Canada to allow refugees coming across theU.S. border to stay.
After initially saying that he didnāt want to āplay politicsā over the U.S. immigration policy, Trudeau told reporters Wednesday that separating child migrants from their parents is āwrongā and āunacceptable.ā
āI cannot imagine what the families are going through,ā Trudeau said. āThis is not the way we do things in Canada.ā
Thefederal government has not said how it plans to treat refugees coming from the U.S. going forward.
This is the second #ToyPileofShame this month. On June 8, a similar pile of signs and toys was mounted outside the U.S. Consulate buildingin Toronto.
is beginning at ās office!
ā Petra Molnar (@_PMolnar)
What it looks like in front of ās office right now. Scrap the Safe Third Country Agreement Canada should stop cooperating with the US - it is NOT SAFE for refugees there.
ā Karen Chen (@ckaren15)
Our Liberal government refuses stand for human rights, preferring instead to stroke Trump's ego via their silence. The Liberals should follow the NDP's lead in directly challenging Trump's policy and cancelling the safe third country agreement
ā Christo Aivalis (@christoaivalis)
Stop collaborating on refugee policy with a country that separates children from their parents ��ā��ā����ā��ā����������
ā Shakka (@s_hakka)
