People seeking asylum – that is, life-saving protection – are not a shadow to be forgotten, not an image to be dismissed, not an object of policy, nor a problem to be solved. They are flesh and bones. They are one of us. They are just from a different place that they were forced to leave through no fault of their own. They are looking for a place to be safe. The States won’t give many of them that safety. Our country is bigger and has 1/10 of the population. There is room. This isn’t a money or resource problem. This is a priority problem.
“Canadian faith communities have long advocated for Canada to welcome and respond to people in need of safety who are fleeing from violence, discrimination, persecution, and war. While the Safe Third Country Agreement remains in effect, the court also found that its implementation is unsafe. It will always be essential that people at a port of entry to Canada have full and equal access to the fundamental principles of justice in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that would give them a fair hearing in Canada,” said Pastor Peter Noteboom, General Secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches.
This article sheds light on the human experiences of people seeking asylum in Canada and the challenges they face. It underscores how institutions meant to help sometimes unintentionally cause hardship. *Asylum Scandals* explores a different form of asylum—real stories of neglect and abuse in early U.S. state hospitals.