detention centres – The Concordian

Protest currently halted to re-think a longer and more effective strategy

According to advocate group Solidarity Across Borders (SAB), a group of seven detained migrants held at the Immigration Holding Centre (IHC) in Laval initiated a seven-day hunger strike in protest against the centre’s living conditions and lack of COVID-19 care between Feb. 28 and March 6.

SAB is calling for their release from the holding centre, stating that the current conditions migrants are living under are inhumane and unacceptable. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirms that there are currently 17 migrants detained at the centre, seven of whom went on strike.

The first wave of protests initially started Feb. 15 by a lone migrant, under the pseudonym Marlon, who went on a hunger strike after testing positive for COVID-19 at the centre. SAB spokesperson Bill Van Driel says that after an 11-day protest, Marlon regained his strength for a few days before joining the other six migrants who decided to also protest against forced solitary confinement and unsanitary living conditions.

“From the moment that there was a confirmed COVID case at the centre, they put all detainees in solitary confinement,“ Van Biel said. The detainees state that being held under confinement, even without showing symptoms of COVID-19, is unjust and inhumane. In solitary confinement, detainees are held in cells all day, only having the right to leave for a limited amount of time to use the phone or to bathe.

However in an email received by The Concordian, Mark Stuart, spokesperson for the CBSA, contradicts SAB, claiming no protest occurred at the Laval IHC.

“The Canada Border Services Agency can confirm that there were no detainees on food protest on the week of March 1, 2021 at the Immigration Holding Centre in Laval and there are still no food protests at the IHC as of March 15, 2021,” Stuart said. However, the CBSA did confirm that there was in fact a hunger protest, but at a different provincial facility.

According to SAB, the added inability for family or attorney visitation due to COVID-19 has also taken a toll on the migrants detained there.

“That creates a lot of difficulty for people, it creates psychological difficulty of having less contact and being cut off from the outside world, especially for people facing deportation,” Van Biel said.

The CBSA also disputes the allegation that they forbid visitations from attorneys, claiming they do allow lawyer visitation at their facilities across Canada.

“Regardless of location of detention all detainees have access to legal counsel or a representative, in person or over the phone, at any point throughout their detention,” Stuart said.

Through SAB, the seven detainees released a declaration letter describing the things they’ve experienced. The declaration recounts mistreatments the detainees have faced, including COVID-19 negligence, unsanitary living conditions, and other negative experiences.

“Some of the detainees have already contracted COVID-19. Others complained of pain similar to the symptoms of COVID but were given only Tylenol. We are in a lot of pain,” the letter says. “We had also been confined to separate rooms without receiving any psychological assistance. We are distraught and very fearful for our health.”

“The sanitary measures taken by the immigration officers are clearly insufficient.”

Stuart claims that since the beginning of COVID-19, the CBSA has ensured precautionary and additional steps to sanitize cells to help prevent the spread of the virus between detainees.

“In addition to standardized cleaning procedures, the CBSA has put in place additional measures to disinfect the premises and facilities where detainees and staff are located. Maintenance crews have increased the frequency of cleaning the bathrooms, common areas, reception area, etc.”

Though the CBSA claims that conditions are being taken care of, now more than ever, Van Biel doesn’t believe in what the CBSA claims they’re doing.

“The conditions in the immigration centres are terrible,” Van Biel said. “The conditions of these detention centres are always terrible, even when compared to other prisons in Canada.”

According to SAB, migrants communicated to each other by means of yelling from cell to cell, and SAB organizers assume that was the method that sparked the large hunger strike.

Van Biel says that after seven days, the protest was halted to re-think a different long-term strategy all while attempting to keep steady pressure at the IHC.

“We are asking to be released from the Laval detention centre because it is a place where the virus can spread, and it is only a matter of time before we are all infected,” the letter says.

No statement has been released on what the next method of protest will be.

“These people are not at all dangerous in any way. None of the people who are at the detention centre have any criminal record.” – Richard Renshaw, a Roman Catholic priest who regularly visits migrants in detention centres.

There have been several events and protests at Concordia University, and in Montreal, over the past couple of years over concerns about asylum seekers in migrant detention centres in Canada.

In 2016, the federal government released its plan to replace the current migrant detention centres across the country through their National Immigration Detention Framework. The government allocated up to $138 million to transform the immigration detention system in Canada.

“The Government of Canada is committed to exercising its responsibility for detentions to the highest possible standards, with physical and mental health and well-being of detainees, as well as the safety and security of Canadians as the primary considerations,” said Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in a public statement.

Richard Renshaw, a Roman Catholic priest who pays friendly visits to migrants in detention centres, said recent protests started in 2011. “In a number of detention centres, there was a hunger strike of the people inside, refugees that were being held there, because of the conditions,” he said.

The latest event was an information session held on Nov. 20 at the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia, hosted by QPIRG McGill and Solidarity Across Borders, a migrant justice organization based in Montreal.

“The men and women are separated, and usually the children are kept with the women,” said Renshaw. “They can see each other during visiting hours.”

Renshaw explained that in some cases when Canada tries to negotiate with the country of origin of asylum seekers to return them, the negotiation could take years – so they must stay in the detention centres or prisons until it is resolved.

But some said building new detention centres would not be enough to fix the situation- there needs to be systemic change.

SAB and other grassroots groups have been fighting the construction of the replacement migrant detention centre in Laval since 2016. The movement demands the construction to stop and for “Canada to cease using detention to control and limit the movement of migrants.”

There are now three official migrant detention centres in the nation, one in Toronto, Vancouver, and Laval. According to data found on the government of Canada website, Quebec sees the most asylum claims in the country; 97 per cent this year so far. In provinces and cities that do not have a migrant detention centre, migrants are placed in jail.

“A third of the people who get sent to detention end up in actual prisons,” said Renshaw.

Renshaw said the main reasons people are detained is because the border agent who processes them feels they might not show up to their upcoming hearing, or because they are unsure about their background or their identity. If there is any hesitation, they are put into detention.

According to data gathered by the government of Canada, this year, between January and October, 97 per cent of asylum seekers have entered through Quebec, totaling 13,372 people so far.

The Laval Immigration Holding Centre (LIHC) has a capacity of 109 people, and according to Stop the Prison, the new one that will be replacing the LIHC will have a total capacity of 158. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said at any given time there is an average of 450 to 500 individuals detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Renshaw said the LIHC will be run as a medium-security prison, as that is the standard that the CBSA uses.

“They can be there for three or four days while they work things out, or they can be there for a month, or a year, or five years – there’s no limit,” said Renshaw.

Only the people who are detained or work at the centres see the inside. Visitors are allowed in the visitation room and nowhere else.

“They’ve told me that they have rooms where there are four or five in the same room, and they have meals which are standard, rather unspiced bland food,” said Renshaw. “These people are not at all dangerous in any way. None of the people who are at the detention centre have any criminal record.”

Renshaw said protesters believe the system is ““retraumatizing traumatized people, for no particular benefit to society. They could be out working, and getting integrated into the society they’ve come to and want to be a part of.”

Graphic by Victoria Blair