Canadian provinces to end holding immigration detainees in provincial jails

By Merve Aydogan

ONTARIO, Canada (AA) - Amnesty International Canada announced a significant move Thursday for migrant and refugee rights, in which all 10 provinces in Canada have pledged to terminate immigration detention agreements with the Canada Border Services Agency.

Newfoundland and Labrador, the final province to confirm the decision, will stop allowing the federal government to detain migrants and asylum seekers in local jails, according to a statement by the human rights group.

The #WelcomeToCanada campaign was initiated by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Canada in October 2021.

It was essential in advocating for an end to the practice of using provincial jails for immigration detention, which has been deemed inconsistent with international human rights standards and "detrimental to mental health."

"Over the past five years, the border agency has incarcerated thousands of people on immigration grounds in dozens of provincial jails across the country, on the basis of agreements and arrangements with provinces. Conditions in provincial jails are abusive, and these facilities are inherently punitive," said the statement.

It said a report in 2021 by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International highlighted the discriminatory conditions faced by racialized individuals, particularly Black men, and people with disabilities in Canada's immigration detention facilities.

The border agency paid provinces hundreds of dollars daily for each immigrant detainee incarcerated in provincial jails under the agreements, noted the statement.

"Once agreements and arrangements with the provinces expire, the agency will no longer have access to provincial jails for immigration detention," it added.

Five provinces' agreements have already expired while deals with five others are in effect until March 2025.

The agency has sought to extend the agreements in some provinces.