On World Refugee Day the Ontario Federation of Labour calls on the governments of Ontario and Canada to speak out to stop the shameful separation of migrant families arriving at U.S borders and re-examine immigration detention policies in Canada, and the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement.
“As families are being torn apart at the U.S. border, Canada has not yet condemned the government of the United States,” said OFL President Chris Buckley. “It is shameful that after admitting the harm of residential schools and Japanese internment camps in our own country, we are not using those lessons to do the right thing now by speaking up against this atrocity, and adjust our own policies here at home.”
The U.S. “zero tolerance” policy makes it impossible to consider the U.S. a safe haven for refugee claimants, with U.S. authorities now separating children from parents. Canada must re-examine the Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty where the U.S. and Canada work together to determine the refugee status of claimants at their shared border, and its policies of indefinite detention where children are held with their mothers and separated from their fathers.
“The government of Canada has promised changes to its practice of immigration detention, and a re-evaluation of its Safe Third Country agreement with the United States,” said Buckley. “Each day we delay is one more day where children live in fear, where they risk being lost in the shuffle and never reunited with their families. Our governments must stand up for what is right.”
The OFL encourages all Ontarians to speak up on this issue. Please follow OFLabour on Twitter and Facebook for more information on how you can get involved.
