One of the world’s longest and “friendliest” borders has been reinvented and reconfigured to “a high security zone marked by fortified crossing points, thermal body detectors, swiveling surveillance cameras, and the occasional low-skimming Blackhawk helicopter” (“Overzealous U.S-Canada”, 2015). Considerations for this reconfiguration occurred long before the events of September 11 2001, and Canada did not want to implement policies that did not assess refugee claims on a “case by case basis”, but the events of 9/11 provided the required justification for the implementation of securitization policies and trends along the border (Field, 2013, p.10). The increased fear of terrorism acting as an unprompted threat to national security and civilian
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It is noted that the United States, Canada and Australia are nations of traditional forms of immigration with immigration being used as a measure for population growth throughout their history and as fundamental parts of their national identity, particularly for Canada as it is viewed as a diverse formation of multiple ethnic groups (Hamlin, 2009). Asylum policy within these countries is thus a domestic conflict over conventional norms and practices alongside the international and national responsibility to protect the rights and privileges of defenseless migrants (Hamlin, …show more content…
185). Governments express that deterrence measures used are aimed at the people that abuse the asylum and refugee system but its implementation is not restricted to those actors, leaving legitimate asylum seekers to struggle with the increased barriers to their safety.
The STCA acts as a measure to regulate border flows and essentially diverts asylum seekers from the Canadian refugee system, “bureaucrats expressed a palpable sense of relief about the reduction of a secondary flow of asylum seekers from the United States, and the potential for a more manageable caseload in the aftermath of the Safe Third Country Agreement” which highlights the social and administrative logic behind the support for asylum flow reduction policies (Hamlin, 2009).
The assimilation of Canadian and American border control policies is reaction not only to the increasing threat of the border but also to the increase in “public hostility” aimed at asylum seekers and thus policies such as the STCA effectively reduce the number of asylum claims that must be managed (Hamlin, 2009,
It is noted that the United States, Canada and Australia are nations of traditional forms of immigration with immigration being used as a measure for population growth throughout their history and as fundamental parts of their national identity, particularly for Canada as it is viewed as a diverse formation of multiple ethnic groups (Hamlin, 2009). Asylum policy within these countries is thus a domestic conflict over conventional norms and practices alongside the international and national responsibility to protect the rights and privileges of defenseless migrants (Hamlin, …show more content…
185). Governments express that deterrence measures used are aimed at the people that abuse the asylum and refugee system but its implementation is not restricted to those actors, leaving legitimate asylum seekers to struggle with the increased barriers to their safety.
The STCA acts as a measure to regulate border flows and essentially diverts asylum seekers from the Canadian refugee system, “bureaucrats expressed a palpable sense of relief about the reduction of a secondary flow of asylum seekers from the United States, and the potential for a more manageable caseload in the aftermath of the Safe Third Country Agreement” which highlights the social and administrative logic behind the support for asylum flow reduction policies (Hamlin, 2009).
The assimilation of Canadian and American border control policies is reaction not only to the increasing threat of the border but also to the increase in “public hostility” aimed at asylum seekers and thus policies such as the STCA effectively reduce the number of asylum claims that must be managed (Hamlin, 2009,