Recently, Canada removed all the forty-two countries listed under the DCO to end the Designated Country of Origin immigration policy to all refugees. According to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department, IRCC, the system contained multiple faults which inhibited the quick processing of refugee claims too many countries under the DCO. More so, the administration lacked crucial data essential for discouraging abuse of the asylum system as well as faster dispensation of refugee claims from such countries.
The 2012 DCO policy requires all the countries listed to remain subject to specific rules and regulation, hence allowing refugees migrate to Canada. These rules and regulations include; a six-month bar work on work permits; bar on petitions at the Refugee Appeals Division; partial accesses to the Interim Federal Health Program; and a thirty-six-month bar on Pre-Removal Risk Assessments.
If all these conditions were met, Canada would have continued to allow refugee immigration with approved documents. However, the increase in border crosses between the United States and Canada remains high despite the changes in conditions hence resulting in the ending of the Designated Country of Origin Refugee Policy.
However, the Federal Court of Canada has ruled out various provisions of the DCO as they did not conform to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. The current and existing regulations of the countries under the DCO are still under review despite still operating in Canada. More so, the changes made did not affect the existing DCO provisions, and the Federal Court approved their operations. According to IRCC, the changes only affected the Canadian policy of refugee immigration but possessed no impact in conditions to countries previously listed. Besides, the alterations accompany no effect to the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement hence maintaining the United States immigration policy of qualified immigrants.
