Mohammed Al Hashemi had been in the United States for two months when his phone rang. There was no caller ID. “I can take you straight to Canada,” the man said before warning, “It could cost you a lot of money.”
I told him, “Okay.” I was ready to go, ready to move on to the next step, “said Al-Hashemi, a lawyer in Yemen before being forced to flee.
The next day he was taken to Roxham Road, which runs between Quebec and Plattsburgh, New York. After crossing the border, al-Hashemi headed to Montreal, where he remained in a refugee shelter until his asylum application was accepted.
Since 2017, more than 60,000 asylum seekers have entered Canada on such irregular routes from the United States, due to what some have called a “loophole” in a treaty between the two countries. The Safe Third Country Agreement, in force since 2004, stipulates that asylum seekers in each country must seek refugee protection in which country they first arrive and will be diverted from ports of entry into the other nation.
But this agreement does not apply to irregular crossings. And along the 5525-mile mark, Roxham Road is the most popular improper checkpoint. In the first three months of 2022, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detected more than 7,000 asylum seekers crossing into Quebec, mainly on Roxam Road.
The influx has sparked growing friction between provincial and federal authorities, prompting Quebec Prime Minister Francois Lego to ask the Canadian government to close Roxham Road this month, arguing that the province has no funds or housing to deal with asylum seekers observed in recent months.
Refugee advocates disagree with these allegations. “Refugee organizations in Montreal have made it very clear that they have the capacity,” said Wendy Ayot, founder of the Quebec-based group Bridges Not Borders, which said that without a reliable Roxham Road route, asylum seekers would resort to more dangerous settings. “The final closure will be a major driver of smuggling,” Ayot said.
Asylum seekers crossed into Canada from the U.S. border near the Rocksham Road checkpoint near Hemingford, Quebec, last month. Photo: Christine Mushi / Reuters
Although not an official port of entry, the Roxham Road crossing is monitored by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and adheres to a clearly established system.
Day and night taxis leave asylum seekers. Some have just arrived in the United States on a business visa, others have lived there for years. Taxi drivers shout “French!” Or “English!” of the police waiting on Quebec’s side. As people approached the border, they were arrested, read their rights and taken to shelters in Montreal.
Closing Roxham Road would increase smuggling, which is already occurring at the border, said Craig Damien Smith, a senior fellow at the University of Toronto Metropolitan. He added that most asylum seekers using smugglers have already received an asylum application rejected in the United States – or without documents.
Ali, who asked not to use his real name, is a small business owner who fled Yemen to escape the lawlessness and violence of the country’s brutal civil war. He has lived in Buffalo, New York, for the past seven years, awaiting the resolution of his asylum application, but his patience is running out. “If nothing is new to me in a few months, I will try to go [to Canada],” he said.
Locator map.
Smugglers in Buffalo offer transportation to Roxam Road for $ 1,000- $ 2,000 per person. To avoid police suspicion, they pose as Uber or Lyft drivers by putting company stickers on their windshields. Ali initially considered hiring a smuggler before realizing he could just take a bus to Plattsberg.
The existence of smugglers is well known among Roxham Road taxi drivers working at the Platzburg bus stop. Taxi drivers are also meeting with “runners” who charge refugees large sums of money to take to Plattsburgh across the country, said local taxi driver Wayne, who asked not to use his full name.
While most irregular crossings take place on Roxham Road, some asylum seekers take more dangerous routes. Seydou Mohammed feared persecution in his native Ghana for being bisexual, and in December 2016 he traveled to Manitoba on a trip that nearly cost him his life.
Mohammed and a companion found a driver in Minnesota ready to take them to the border for $ 200 each. After crossing into Manitoba, they walked for hours in the snow before unloading a truck. Both men lost their fingers from frostbite.
Mohammed’s application for asylum was accepted and he has since set up a football program for disadvantaged families and new refugees in Canada.
At the time of his crossing, he did not know that Roxam Road existed. “If I had known, I would have gone there instead.”
While Quebec is concerned about the closure of Roxham Road, the legal framework for migration may soon change. Justin Trudeau has repeatedly said that Canada is negotiating a new version of the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. La Presse announced in December that the talks would close the door and stop illegal migration across the border.
Quebec police caught more than 7,000 asylum seekers in the first three months of 2022, most of them on Roxam Road. Photo: Carlos Osorio / Reuters
How and when the changes will take shape remains unclear. However, like the closure of Roxham Road, it is speculated that an expanded agreement will affect smuggling.
“Expanding this type of smuggling will be even more intense, dangerous and expensive,” said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Refugee Council.
Nila Hassan, 29, left Afghanistan in 2019 after her study on women’s education led to threats from the Taliban. Hassan took immigration lessons, talked to lawyers and remembered her rights as an asylum seeker. He then flew to Plattsberg and took a taxi to Roxam Road.
If the checkpoint had not received asylum seekers at the time, Hassan believed she would have used a smuggler.
“It is difficult to see why anyone would take such a dangerous step. But sometimes you’re in a very desperate situation when you’re like, do it or die, “Hassan said.
“You take the risk because your life is at risk.”
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