Thursday 13 April 2023

With no access to legal aid in N.B., some asylum claimants filing without lawyer

 
 

With no access to legal aid in N.B., some asylum claimants filing without lawyer

Province provides temporary funding to hire lawyer while clinic goes through federal application process

Olivia Huynh, executive director of the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic, said she's working with around 10 applicants who've applied without a lawyer, most because they lacked legal aid.

Unlike other provinces, such as Quebec and Ontario, New Brunswick's provincial legal aid program does not extend to asylum seekers. And once they are allowed into the country, they have just 45 days to submit their base claim or file for an extension.

close up photo of young woman smiling Olivia Huynh, executive director of the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic, is working to hire another lawyer to take on the increased caseload. (Submitted by Olivia Huynh)

Huynh said the people who filed without a lawyer did so because their 45 days were up, and they didn't want to miss the deadline and be deported. She said those initial claims will be used as evidence in their hearings, so it's important to be able to understand the forms with the help of lawyer.

"They might omit an important event, then mention it at the hearing, and the reason for that might just be because they didn't understand the form," Huynh  said. An Immigration and and Refugee Board member might see a credibility issue if something wasn't mentioned in the initial claim.

Huynh said she said she knows of several families who applied without a lawyer. 

Arlene Dunn, the New Brunswick minister responsible for immigration, said in a statement that the province had  welcomed 187 asylum claimants from Quebec as of Thursday last week.

Sixty-seven are in Fredericton, 120 are in Moncton, and all are being housed by the federal government, Dunn said.

According to Huynh, the asylum seekers are originally from countries all over the world and speak several languages, including French, Arabic and Spanish.

Woman standing in front of Canada and New Brunswick flags Arlene Dunn, the minister responsible for immigration, said the province is providing some funding so the refugee clinic can hire a second lawyer sooner. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

Even if their asylum claims are legitimate, she said, people who make claims without a lawyer are significantly less likely to succeed because of language barriers and a lack of legal knowledge.

Jael Duarte, an immigration lawyer, has been meeting with some of the asylum seekers as a volunteer. She said if the 45-day window passes, their claim would be considered "abandoned."

"They are not going to be able to argue their case," she said. "So what is going to happen is that they are going to be deported to their country of origin [where] they are persecuted and threatened."

A woman with long dark curly hair and glasses speaks to a Zoom call. Jael Duarte is an immigration lawyer who has volunteered to work with some of the asylum claimants. (Zoom/CBC)

The refugee clinic is the province's only organization that provides free legal services to asylum seekers. Huynh is the organization's only paid employee and is working with the federal and provincial governments to hire another full-time lawyer to take on cases. 

She said the clinic is hoping the federal Justice Department will fund a one-year contract for a lawyer with a salary range of $70,000 to $85,000. But that process would take months, she said.

In the meantime, Dunn said, the province is providing funding so the lawyer can be hired sooner. Because the funding is still being finalized, the minister's office cannot confirm how much money it will be or where it will come from, said spokesperson Michel LeBlanc.

Huynh said the clinic has a part-time law student, five volunteer lawyers and a handful of volunteer law students who have been meeting with the individuals and families to discuss their legal options. She said they've met with almost everyone in Fredericton and have made headway in Moncton.

"We've been holding consultations with each individual or each family to make sure they understand the process and give them a chance to ask us questions," she said.

Consultations do not mean full-time legal representation, she said, and a lawyer would typically spend 30 to 40 hours to see a refugee claim through.

51 per cent of applications approved in 2022

There were 9,231 irregular applications processed last year, with around 51 per cent accepted and the rest denied, abandoned or withdrawn. The country accepted a total of 4,728 asylum claims made by an irregular crossing last year. 

Last year the board processed 45,444 claims across the country. Of those, 62 per cent were accepted and 38 per cent were denied, abandoned or withdrawn.

"Irregular border crossers" are defined by the federal government "as individuals who entered Canada between official ports of entry." Unlike undocumented migrants, people who make an irregular crossing to apply for asylum have permission to stay in Canada while their claim is being heard.

If they were able to apply through regular channels, more than half of irregular crossing applications would have been approved anyway, according to data from the Immigration and Refugee board.

Roxham Road has long been an unofficial border crossing for asylum seekers because of the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S.

The agreement forces asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in the first country they enter, whether it's Canada or the U.S., unless they make an irregular crossing.

Last month, the agreement was amended to designate all land borders as official border crossings, making it impossible for most people to apply for asylum in Canada if their first stop was the United States.

In February, Quebec Premier François Legault asked the federal government to redirect migrants applying for asylum at the Roxham Road to other provinces. He said Quebec can't handle any more.

New Brunswick answered the call, Dunn has said, because it could use more people and recognizes the humanitarian issues involved.

While waiting for their case to be heard, asylum seekers get work permits and can access help from local multicultural associations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hadeel Ibrahim is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick based in Saint John. She reports in English and Arabic. Email: hadeel.ibrahim@cbc.ca.

With files from Information Morning Moncton

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
 
 
16 comments
 
 
 
David Amos
Legal aid is a joke 
 
 
David Amos

Reply to David Amos 
Many years ago I got Permanent Resident Status south of the 49th without the help of a lawyer. The only money it cost me was what I had to pay a corrupt Yankee Police Dept to make a set of my finger prints to give the Feds. In 2006 I secured my Yankee kids their Canadian citizenship with one phone call. I did not spend one thin dime nor did I sign one piece of paper. 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to David Amos 
May I elaborate some day? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SarahRose Werner
 
David Amos
Reply to SarahRose Werner  
Check out the full interview with reporter Arun Budhathoki:

Huynh pointed out that Canada needs to be more flexible in cases where refugees return to their home country to attend to their loved ones who are sick or facing death.

She also laid out problems that refugees and refugees claimants face, such as language barriers, the lack of affordable housing, getting accessible services, knowing where to go for services or which organizations can help them, and also knowing what their rights are and what different immigration pathways and different options are based on their situation.

“I think something that’s also been an issue recently is having long delays with receiving things like work permits or study permits that will allow them to continue their life in Canada and to be self-sufficient while they’re waiting for their refugee claim to be heard. So I think all of those things are issues that that people are facing right now,” she said.

Canada has committed to welcome at least 40,000 Afghan refugees over the next two years.

Huynh believes Canada is prepared to welcome more refugees, but the country might face hurdles to accommodate them without proper preparations.

 
 
 
 
 
Jack Straw 
Legal Aid in NB is the absolute worst. Zero leadership for decades . Now the chickens have come home to roost. The reason they cannot find private lawyers is because they pay an insulting hourly rate. And then they cut it once you submit your bill. A lot of the actual lawyers in Legal Aid are hard working and competent. It is the Management and leadership that is abysmal. Regional supervisors who work half days and take on virtually no cases yet at the top of the pay range. Management that are very old and unable to carry a work load. The last two directors of Legal Aid never were practicing lawyers and had no idea what was involved working with very difficult clients. Yet the Crown gets 30 new positions and Legal Aid gets none. It really is a mickey mouse organization. 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to Jack Straw 
Is this another Straw Man Report? 
 

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