The Federal Court has struck down one of the last remaining planks of a controversial revamp of the refugee asylum system introduced with great fanfare by the Harper government as a way to root out what it called bogus claims.On Wednesday, Justice Keith Boswell declared it is “unconstitutional” for Ottawa to treat refugees from so-called “safe countries” differently from other refugees when it comes to being assessed to determine if deporting them would put them in danger. The ruling followed two previous court decisions that saw some of the other key elements of reforms enacted by the then-Conservative government knocked down and dismantled.“The system they created is a total failure, a flop,” said veteran refugee lawyer Lorne Waldman, who was not involved in the court challenge. “It was ill-conceived, ill-thought out. The Conservative government created a system that didn’t work. They trumpeted the reform as a 21st Century system, but it turned out to be the opposite.” In 2012, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives introduced a series of changes targeting refugee claimants from designated safe countries, subjecting them to different treatment. These refugees were rushed through the asylum process, had restricted access to appeals and health coverage, and faced quick deportation. The goal, the government said, was to “prevent fraud and maintain the integrity of its border.”Critics note that people from so-called safe countries can still face persecution at home due to sexual orientation, ethnicity and religion.The safe country list initially included 23 countries and has since been expanded to 42, including the United States, Czech Republic, Hungary and Mexico.Different parts of the reforms have been successfully challenged in court over the years. The Federal Court has previously ruled that all failed refugee claimants should be granted access to appeal and the government was ordered to restore h ...
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