Canada's Problem? US Refugee Crossings "Epidemic" Amid Fear, Distrust Of Trump

加拿大會熱鬧起來了 !

www.zerohedge.com

In what some might call a 'win' for President Trump, Canadian immigration officials warn they are experiencing a "big surge [of refugees] coming across the border" with many of them proclaiming their distrust and fear of President Trump.

In the first official report of a group of "asylum seekers" who are malcontent refugees in the U.S. trying to become refugees in Canada being apprehended, U.S. border security guards and a local sheriff caught three Somali nationals trying to sneak across an open stretch of the U.S.-Canada border on Tuesday, according to CBC News.

Kris Grogan, a public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said border officials on the U.S. side are becoming increasingly worried about asylum seekers trying to get into Canada.

"It is extremely dangerous to be putting yourself out into these elements where you could end up dying," he said.

As CBC News first reported in January, hundreds of asylum seekers have walked into Canada through fields near the Emerson border.

The issue came into the spotlight after two refugees from Ghana were hospitalized in Winnipeg after suffering frostbite on Christmas Eve while lost on Highway 75, near the Canada-U.S. border.

The refugees were so badly frostbitten, they lost fingers and toes. Since the story of the two men became public, dozens of other asylum seekers, including a mother and two-year-old child, have crossed into Manitoba.

As AFP reports, Farhan Ahmed hoped to find refuge in the United States after fleeing death threats in Somalia, but fear over a US crackdown on immigration sent him on another perilous journey -- to Canada.

It was a record number of arrivals for a single weekend in the small border town of Emerson, and Canadian officials said Thursday they are bracing for more.

An agreement with the US prevents asylum seekers from lodging claims in Canada if they first landed stateside, but it only applies to arrivals at border checkpoints, airports and train stations.

Rita Chahal, executive director of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, described a "big surge coming across the border." According to Canada's Border Services Agency, numbers have roughly doubled in each of the last four years to 321 cases in fiscal 2015-2016. Since April, there have been 403 cases.

People often come from Djibouti, Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia, said Chahal, whose agency works out of a building designed by a top Canadian architect who was once himself a refugee.

The numbers are high, but the risky routes asylum seekers take are also alarming. "They're crossing through farmers' fields. Many of them are getting lost," Chahal said. The recent arrivals, she said, tell a common story: "'We're afraid of what's happening in the United States, we're not sure what's going to happen if I get sent back to my country.'"

Samatar Adam, 30, from Djibouti, arrived last month. Asked why he did not file a refugee claim in the US, he replied: "Donald Trump." He left soon after the inauguration. "It saddens me to see refugees flee not only their country but also a safe, democratic country like the United States," said the Immigration Partnership Winnipeg's Hani Al-Ubeady, himself an Iraqi refugee who now helps resettle others.

"They have to take another risky journey to make it to another safe place -- Canada."

As a reminder, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Donald Trump’s immigration ban by saying Canada welcomes refugees who have been rejected from the US.

“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” he tweeted.

And now it's Canada's problem? Will protesters blockade the northern border demanding US refugees stay in America? Will virtue-signaling have to be turned up to '11'? For now it seems Canada's "safe spaces" are safer than America's "safe spaces."

on.cc東網專訊

美國總統特朗普於上月簽下疑似針對回教徒及移民的落閘令，除了迅即惹來了國際間的譴責外，亦在美國的非法移民社區中造成恐慌，不少人頓生「逃離」美國的念頭。而近日就有更多有關人物故事的報道，其中一名深具「先見之明」的移民早於特朗普正式上任前就星夜冒風雪成功逃到加拿大，但卻付上失去全部手指的代價。

24歲的加納裔美國非法移民穆罕默德，去年從美國北達科他州步行到加拿大馬尼托巴（Manitoba），其間遇上大風雪及低溫。但他仍然堅持旅程，在一條公路上呆等了數個小時後，終於獲一名好心司機載他到馬尼托巴。

穆罕默德的10根手指都於低溫中被凍至懷死，需要切除。穆罕默德會在3月23日出席當地聽證會的聆訊，以決定他可否繼續留在加拿大。但穆罕默德強調自己並沒有後悔，指自覺已是加拿大的一份子，又表示因為受到當地加納裔社區領袖的熱心照顧而大受感動。而馬尼托巴邊境當局就指，自特朗普上任後，已有大量移民從美國湧入，數量之多「前所未見」。

除了穆罕默德，來自索馬里的28歲男子尤素夫於2013年逃離祖國後，花了5個月時間終於抵達了美國的聖迭戈，他隨即向美國申請政治庇護，但未獲批准，成為「非法難民」。而眼見特朗普當選後排除移民的態度明確，他亦終於在當地時間周日，與另一名索馬里同胞步行到加拿大邊境，尋找新的希望。