University of Alberta law students participated in a national initiative this weekend that aimed to help refugees get into Canada from the United States.
“Research 4 Refugees” was an effort to help the Canadian Council for Refugees and push the federal government to withdraw from the Safe Third Country Agreement.
The initiative was a response to U.S President Donald Trump’s ban on accepting certain travellers and all refugees.
READ MORE: Thousands rally against Islamophobia across Canada as travel ban protests continue worldwide
The agreement means the first country of arrival for refugees is where they make their claim.
“The way that it works is that if you land in the U.S. as a refugee and you claim status at their port of entry, you can’t then try to come into Canada and cross the border and claim status here in Canada,” University of Alberta law student Sylvia Nicholles said.
The concern is that U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies will put hardships on refugees and prevent them from crossing into Canada.
“The other concern is people that have started claims in the U.S. for asylum can’t abandon that claim and then try to come to Canada,” Nicholles said.
“So you can’t start claims in both countries is what the agreement gets at, and we think that’s extremely problematic given how refugees are going to be treated in the upcoming years.”
The U of A students were working on executive summaries and compiling information on four different research topics: the treatment of refugees in the U.S., international law, the charter and administrative law.
“I’ve assigned the four groups two students and they’re working through the research that’s complied and they’re trying to create an executive summary that can be given to the Canadian Council for Refugees that also can be used to pressure MPs to look at this issue,” Nicholles said.
“And potentially can be disseminated to the public so that they know what this is about.”
READ MORE: Green card holder fears being harassed at US border, despite Trump travel ban block
Students said the initiative was a good opportunity to get involved and do their part as well as a show of solidarity for fellow students who have been affected by the Trump travel ban.
“Being able to come together to help out a group that is directly affected by this ban, it gives an idea that we’re able to contribute something,” Nicholles said.
Research 4 Refugees united students from 22 legal faculties across Canada.
On Sunday, a U.S. federal appeals court denied the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of Trump’s travel ban.
Comments