Misinformation and hostile U.S. refugee policies are the main drivers behind the influx of so-called irregular migrants crossing into Canada, according to asylum seekers who participated in a groundbreaking survey.The survey involving 290 irregular migrants also found few turned to human smugglers to reach the border, a sign of Canada’s orderly border management — and a vindication of Ottawa’s response to the border crisis that saw 50,000 asylum seekers enter the country through land crossings over the past two years, says the joint report by the University of Toronto and York University.The surge — which slowed down this year — was a hot political issue on Parliament Hill, dividing ordinary Canadians and fuelling the far-right movement, which seized the opportunity to fan anti-immigrant sentiments.“Canada’s response has been the right response, by increasing the capacity of the Immigration and Refugee Board and reducing misinformation through outreach campaigns,” said study author Craig Damian Smith, associate director of the Global Migration Lab at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and research associate at York’s Centre for Refugee Studies.“The RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency conduct routinized security screening. You don’t have people trafficked. You don’t see the cat-and-mouse game. People arrive safely, and without criminal networks.”Researchers surveyed asylum seekers from more than 50 countries as part of the study released this month — the first on this wave of irregular migration. The participants had been in Canada anywhere from a few days to two years and took part in hour-long interviews conducted at shelters and community organizations in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal in their language of choice.Although irregular migration via Quebec’s Roxham Rd. is not new, the route gained notoriety through social media and int ...
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