TORONTO, August 14, 2000 -- A new collaboration between Canada and the United States to stem the tide of illegal migrants to the continent threatens to shut out bona fide refugees fleeing persecution, says Sharryn Aiken, law professor and a member of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University.

"It is blatant hypocrisy for Canada to suggest that it is upholding the terms of the Geneva Convention related to the status of refugees while it is engaged in this kind of crackdown," says Aiken, adding that most political refugees have to resort to illegal means to escape to another country. Aiken will assess Canada's immigration and refugee policy in a lecture entitled, Migrant Smuggling, Interdiction and Fortress America, at noon, Wednesday, August 16, as part of the Osgoode Hall Law School summer seminar series.

The new Canada-US border strategy, dubbed the Lacolle Project, aims to reduce the flow of illegal migrants entering at New York and travelling north to apply for refugee status at St. Bernard-de-Lacolle on the Quebec border. Canadian and US immigration agents will cooperate in identifying fraudulent claims, and will share satellite intelligence on the arrival of ships smuggling human cargo.

Aiken calls for strong safeguards for refugees in the clampdown on illegal migration, and stricter guidelines for immigration control officers that ensure they are not turning away legitimate refugees. She says negative images of the arrival in British Columbia of close to 600 Chinese migrants on smuggling ships last year have triggered a backlash against illegal migrants who have legitimate refugee claims. She says the government has to do a better job of identifying refugees offshore, but should not erect further barriers to bona fide refugees attempting to seek asylum.

Aiken advocates a change in thinking about citizenship policy that recognizes that human rights are universal. "It is now understood in the growing body of human rights standards around the world that the state no longer has an absolute right to turn individuals away from its borders. That right is now qualified where there are human rights at stake," says Aiken, adding that Canada's obligations to international agreements on human rights and refugees extend offshore. Aiken's lecture will take place in the Faculty Common Room of Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Keele Campus, 4700 Keele St.

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For further information, please contact:

Sharryn Aiken
Centre for Refugee Studies
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 55423
(416) 924-8142 (h)
sharryn@yorku.ca

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/079/00