A deal Canada reached this year with the Biden administration to limit the flow of asylum seekers arriving from the United States appeared to be a swift success: within days, the number of persons captured at illegal border crossings had fallen to a trickle.

However, five months later, the overall number of people seeking refugee claims in Canada has increased rather than decreased. Many now travel by air, while others sneak across the border and hide until they can ask for asylum without fear of being deported, according to people who work with migrants.

The figures demonstrate how difficult it is for countries to turn away desperate people, as well as the issue that unexpected numbers of asylum seekers might pose: Hundreds of people in Toronto slept on the streets this summer because they couldn’t find a place to sleep.

“The basic reality is that closing a border does nothing to address the need for protection,” said Shauna Labman, an associate professor and acting head of the University of Winnipeg’s Human Rights Program. “It only increases the desperation.”

Canada takes pride in welcoming immigrants and plans to bring in a record 500,000 new permanent residents by 2025 to address a severe labour shortfall. However, it has attempted to deter asylum seekers, primarily through an arrangement with the United States under which each country turns back asylum claimants.

Nonetheless, over 39,000 asylum seekers entered Canada illegally last year, largely entering Quebec along a dirt route off Roxham Road in New York, prompting the province to protest that it couldn’t handle the influx. Asylum seekers are drawn to Canada because of its reputation for faster processing and increased acceptance of asylum petitions than the United States.

As a result, Canada and the United States modified their two-decade-old asylum-seeker arrangement, the Safe Third Country Agreement, in March. The deal now applies to the whole 4,000-mile land border between the two countries, rather than only at points of entry.

The enlarged pact resulted in a remarkable decrease in the number of persons intercepted at irregular crossings, from 4,173 in March to double digits from April to July.

However, the aggregate number of asylum seekers entering Canada has increased. According to figures from the immigration, refugees, and citizenship department, the overall number of refugee claims filed in Canada increased to 12,010 in July, the highest monthly total since at least January 2017, and up from 10,120 in March.

Canada Refugee Claims at Airports

According to government of Canada data, some of the increased numbers are due to an increase in the number of people submitting refugee claims at airports or local immigration department offices, frequently days, weeks, or months after arriving in the nation.

People applying at airports accounted for over one-third of all refugee applications in July, up from about 16% in March. Those filing claims at immigration offices accounted for almost 54% of the total in July, up from approximately a third in March. Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, Colombia, and India were the top five claimant countries in the first half of the year, albeit these figures include those who applied prior to the extended US accord.

According to some migratory experts, at least part of the reason for the latest exodus is that Canada is among a diminishing handful of nations viewed as providing safe harbour as the strains of war, climate change, and human rights violations force an increasing number to flee.

The European Union, for example, has implemented an asylum seeker deal that allows governments to return some migrants more promptly. The British government is pressing for legislation that will make it easier to return asylum seekers to Rwanda, while US President Joe Biden’s administration has proposed legislation that will make it more difficult for migrants to obtain refuge if they enter the country unlawfully.

“If you’re trying to make this set of decisions, Canada becomes a more likely option,” said Craig Damian Smith, a research affiliate at York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies.

“The world is facing unprecedented flows of migrants and refugees, and Canada is not immune to these trends,” said Remi Lariviere, a department official.

According to Lariviere, Canada revised the agreement with the US to handle “irregular” crossings, and the extension “does not mean that claims for asylum will not be made in Canada at all.”

Smugglers Hiding Asylum Seekers

According to those who work with migrants, some of those filing claims days or weeks after arriving in Canada are hoping to avoid a clause in the expanded agreement with the US that states that any asylum seeker apprehended within two weeks of crossing the border will be turned back unless they meet a narrow exemption.

This has prompted some to sneak over secretly, often with the assistance of a smuggler, and hide until the two-week deadline expires.

The Refugee Centre in Montreal claims to have assisted four families in one day last week who had been hiding for a fortnight after entering into the nation overland.

“Unfortunately, this is not a very safe avenue for them,” Reuters’ Executive Director Abdulla Daoud said. “It encourages bad actors to take advantage of these people.”

Assistance of Smugglers

According to Executive Director Loly Rico of the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto, between 20% to 30% of recent arrivals indicate they came into Canada undetected and hid with the assistance of a smuggler.

Reuters met with ten persons seeking refugee status who landed in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, recently. They came from all over the world, including Sudan, Uganda, and Mexico. All arrived by plane and had legal visas. Some applied for asylum days or weeks after arriving.

Though they went for causes ranging from domestic violence to war, Canada’s reputation for upholding human rights and providing refuge was a common pull for all.

“It was the first country that came to mind,” Hana Bakhit explained. The 35-year-old Sudanese woman claims she applied for a visiting visa in May, came to Canada in July, and submitted a refugee claim two weeks later.

She has been sleeping in a mosque and a church, calling Toronto’s central shelter every day for a room only to be told that none are available. Nonetheless, she feels herself fortunate to live in Canada.

With Canada’s land border more restricted, the asylum system now favours persons like Bakhit who can obtain a visa and a plane ticket, according to refugee lawyer Maureen Silcoff. “Some of the most vulnerable people remain barred from accessing Canada’s system, and I think we have to reflect on the inequity of that development,” Silcoff said.

Grace Nanziri, 42, was among those who had the relative advantage of being able to obtain a visa and a flight ticket: she sought for a Canadian visitor’s visa after her LGBTQ activism made her a target in her home nation of Uganda.

She flew to Toronto in August after waiting a year for the visa, enticed by Canada’s reputation for human rights protection, she said.