World U.S. not 'safe' for refugees, rights groups argue in Canadian court
Former top U.N. refugee official, Japan's Sadako Ogata, dies at 92
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Asylum seekers who were turned away by Canada at the Canada - U . S . border will finally have their day in court to explain why they feel the United States is not a safe country for refugees . The three Canadian rights groups also enlisted nine other witnesses, including the Burundian woman, to
A collective of rights groups is demanding Canada meet its legal obligations by recognizing that the United States is no longer a safe place to Specifically, the groups say sending refugees back to the U . S . violates their rights under Sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
By Anna Mehler Paperny

TORONTO (Reuters) - The United States is unsafe for would-be refugees and a Canada-U.S. agreement that compels asylum seekers to first apply for U.S. sanctuary ought to be ripped up, lawyers for refugees and rights groups argued in a Canadian federal court on Monday.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, asylum seekers at a formal Canada-U.S. border crossing traveling in either direction are turned back and told to apply for asylum in the country they first arrived in.
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In turn, when Canada rejects people at the border, their charter rights are being violated, advocacy groups and the individual litigant in the case will argue this In 2007, it was also challenged in Federal Court , and the U . S . was declared not safe for refugees , but the decision was overturned on appeal.
Starting Monday in Toronto, the Federal Court of Canada will hear a constitutional challenge to the Canada - U . S . Safe Third Country Agreement, under which both countries consider themselves a safe haven for refugees and The three Canadian rights groups also enlisted nine other witnesses
Lawyers for unnamed refugees who had been turned away are challenging the agreement, saying the United States does not qualify as a "safe" country under President Donald Trump. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees, have also joined the case, which could change the way the two countries cooperate on refugee issues.
More than 50,000 people have illegally crossed the Canada-U.S. border to file refugee claims over the past three years, walking over ditches and on empty roads along the world's longest undefended border. Some asylum seekers have told Reuters they might have stayed in the United States had it not been for Trump's immigration rhetoric and policies.
Canada defends the agreement and wants to expand it. Since April 2018, it has been pushing to apply it to the entire border, in order to include people traveling outside of formal crossings.
On Monday, the plaintiff's lawyers said Canada had failed to adequately review the United States' status as a safe country.
Refugee lawyer Andrew Brouwer cited examples of asylum seekers being returned to the United States and subject to incarceration and solitary confinement for weeks, with little access to counsel.
Spokesmen for Canada's Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen did not return requests for comment on Monday. The hearing continues to Friday and the government is expected to mount its defense.
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Richard Chang and Rosalba O'Brien)
Canadian declares canoe travel as a moving expense .
A Canadian teacher -- pushed to test the limits of tax laws after losing a court fight -- has successfully claimed a canoe trip as a moving expense, public broadcaster CBC said Tuesday. Konecny decided to up the ante and in June 2018 loaded up a battered fibreglass canoe and set out for Ottawa, he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The move took him through five provincial parks and up the Rideau Canal -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He collected receipts for park admission fees, campfire wood and ice and submitted a claim for almost Can$1,000.Last week, he learned that the CRA had accepted his expenses.
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