Nearly 13K international students applied for asylum this year, data shows

Nearly 13,000 international students person applied for asylum successful Canada successful the archetypal 8 months of the year, information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows.

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, a full of 119,835 exile claims were made successful Canada. Of these, 12,915 were claimants who were connected either survey permits (11,605) oregon survey licence extensions (1,310), the section information said.

Global News asked the section for a breakdown of however that compares with applications from claimants connected survey permits dating backmost to 2015-16 but officials said they needed much clip to supply that data.

“This tin instrumentality up to 10 moving days to obtain,” the spokesperson said.

According to a study from the Globe & Mail successful April, that fig stood astatine 1,515 applicants successful 2018, which appears to amusement an summation of 600 per cent.

The highest fig of asylum claims from students this twelvemonth came successful August, with 1,785 claimants connected pupil visas oregon survey licence extensions applying for exile presumption successful Canada.

This comes aft Immigration Minister Marc Miller said successful an interrogation with Global News that a “growing number” of planetary students are claiming asylum successful bid to enactment successful Canada aft being allowed successful connected pupil visas, calling it an “alarming trend.”

Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson successful an interrogation that aired Sunday on The West Block, Miller said those claimants are utilizing the planetary pupil programme arsenic a “backdoor introduction into Canada,” often to little their tuition fees, and that universities and colleges indispensable amended their screening and monitoring practices to weed retired atrocious actors.

He said his section is studying the contented and suggested further reforms to the programme were being explored.

Miller made the comments aft Stephenson asked if Muhammad Shahzeb Khan — a Pakistani man arrested successful Quebec this month while allegedly plotting a violent onslaught against Jews successful New York City — had claimed asylum after entering Canada connected a pupil visa successful 2023.

Miller said helium could not remark connected Khan’s lawsuit arsenic it’s earlier the courts, but was past asked however galore planetary students successful full person claimed asylum.

“There’s a increasing number, Mercedes, and it’s frankly rather alarming fixed the volumes of radical that travel to this country, successful theory, with the due fiscal capableness to unrecorded and to wage their tuition fees, which are 4 times what Canadians pay,” the curate said.

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“We spot that it happens often wrong the archetypal twelvemonth of the clip they’re present … often for little valid reasons than others, notably to driblet the tuition interest down to Canadian rates. There’s immoderate opportunism that’s being utilized and exploited there.”

An IRCC spokesperson told Global News that nether Canadian law, each claimant had the close to person their exile assertion heard, but that was not a warrant that they would get to enactment successful Canada.

“It is important to enactment that the fig of asylum claims does not bespeak the prime oregon thoroughness of the impermanent nonmigratory visa, survey licence oregon enactment licence exertion process,” the spokesperson said successful a statement.

The spokesperson said portion applying for a survey permit, oregon immoderate different benignant of impermanent residence, an applicant indispensable fulfill the serviceman that they person capable connections with their state of origin, peculiarly related to their household and economical situation, and that they volition permission Canada erstwhile their presumption expires.

“Some impermanent residents travel to Canada arsenic genuine visitors, students oregon workers, and past marque an asylum assertion due to the fact that of developments successful their state of origin,” the connection said.

— with files from Global’s Sean Boynton