Virtually all of these asylum seekers do not qualify as refugees under Israeli law and are accepted as temporary residents, required to renew their visas every two to three months. Speaking on behalf of the minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, her spokesperson, Adam Austen, commented rather boldly: “Canada does not support policies of mass deportations of asylum seekers. Opponents of deportation remind us that asylum seekers are not provided with basic social services and are marginalized economically, leading to desperation. In December, 2015, when the Kingdom of Jordan deported 800 Eritrean asylum seekers on the basis that they were in the country for “medical treatment,” Canada was silent. If there is a principle underlying this rather dissonant Canadian foreign policy approach to the same issue in two neighbouring countries, Israel and Jordan, it is anything but apparent.

Source: National Post March 14, 2018 09:56 UTC