On the brink of exhaustion, Montreal’s municipal sector is urging governments to do more to help it meet the urgent needs of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers in the area.
Posted at 4:16pm
“The network of community organizations has reached a saturation point,” says Stephan Reichhold, head of the Round Table of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants.
PHOTO FLORIAN LEROY, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Stephan Reichhold, Head of the Roundtable of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants
We hit a wall. We are no longer able to deliver.
Stephan Reichhold, Head of the Roundtable of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants
Mr. Reichhold made the observation during a news conference Tuesday morning in the presence of members of a coalition of advisory committees from 13 Montreal boroughs. This call for help is intended to create a sense of urgency to resolve an issue that has been raised many times in recent months, particularly in La Presse. It is also because these organizations have found that, unlike previous years, there is no respite at the beginning of the year and requests for assistance continue to increase.
Therefore, to respond to the ‘plight’ of migrants, the Community calls on governments to provide asylum seekers with better access to public services, particularly childcare services and employability measures, and to increase funding for organizations to increase their capacity to provide appropriate support and guidance for migrants.
In 2022, a record 92,715 asylum applications were registered in Canada, of which 59,205 (or 64%) were in Quebec.
PHOTO FLORIAN LEROY, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Members of a coalition of advisory committees from 13 Montreal boroughs held a press conference on Tuesday to ask for help.
“Maximum”
“Our services are running at full capacity,” says Sébastien Patrice, head of the MultiCaf cafeteria. We are at 400% capacity with no significant resources to meet emerging demand. »
In Côte-des-Neiges, too, the immigrant interpreting, assistance and placement service received an average of five asylum seekers a day before the borders reopened.
“We reached around sixty asylum seekers a day with the same staff and the same grants,” says director Fatma Djebbar.
In Saint-Laurent, the same observation: more than 50% of the new users are asylum seekers, reports Maria Ximena Florez, director of the Saint-Laurent Social Organizations Committee.
PHOTO FLORIAN LEROY, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Maria Ximena Florez, Director of the Saint-Laurent Social Organizations Committee
Community organizations are overwhelmed. They don’t have the resources at all to do their job well. We must act before this situation becomes even more dramatic.
Maria Ximena Florez, Director of the Saint-Laurent Social Organizations Committee
Eva Garcia-Turgeon, director of the Foyer du Monde, recalls that in 2017 the Olympic Stadium was transformed into a shelter for migrants. “At that time we had opened 11 emergency shelters. Today we have 46,000 people and nothing has been done. We are at the pandemic level in terms of resources. »
PHOTO FLORIAN LEROY, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Eva Garcia-Turgeon, director of the Foyer du Monde
“Not just numbers”
The municipal sector is also demanding that the government reverse the 1996 Council of Ministers decision restricting access to public services for asylum seekers and introducing a transitional housing scheme.
Upon arrival in Quebec, asylum seekers are temporarily housed in hotels managed by the provincial and federal governments, primarily in the Montreal region. Ottawa manages a larger number of hotel rooms than Quebec City, but does not offer the same support services. It is also Ottawa that is taking on the costs associated with settling asylum seekers. This includes temporary housing, financial support and medical care.
“Asylum seekers are not just numbers,” says Gary Obas, director of Montreal North’s Organization for Integration, Citizenship and Inclusion (ICI). “These are people who want to contribute to the economic development of society. And anyway, the majority of asylum seekers become permanent residents. »
What is the Safe Third Country Agreement?
It is an agreement signed between Canada and the United States in 2002. It allows both countries to designate certain destinations as “safe countries” for asylum seekers. This means that a refugee applicant entering Canada or the United States via a third country deemed safe cannot apply for refugee status there. Instead, he is sent back to the safe third country from which he entered to submit his application there. Talks to renegotiate this deal have been ongoing for several months as the number of asylum seekers entering the United States and Canada via the Roxham Road between Plattsburgh and Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle has increased rapidly. This route has become very popular with migrants escaping the stricter immigration laws in the United States. Minister for Immigration, Franciscation and Integration Christine Fréchette is calling on the federal government to resolve this issue by renegotiating the safe third country agreement with the United States to include Roxham Road. In addition, she calls on the other Canadian provinces to do their part to help Quebec deal with this crisis.
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39,171 Number of people who crossed Roxham Road to seek asylum in 2022
Source: Government of Canada