The federal immigration department is acknowledging mounting “integrity pressures” and potential fraud within Canada’s refugee system, even as Liberal MPs downplay concerns about bogus claims.Blacklock's Reporter says in a formal Response To A Request For Information tabled with the Senate social affairs committee, the department of Immigration Minister Lena Diab conceded there is no single metric to precisely measure fraud in the asylum process. However, officials wrote that when key indicators are viewed together, they suggest a “meaningful proportion of claims” from illegal immigrants and other asylum seekers do not meet protection thresholds.“There is no single data point that can definitively quantify the level of fraud within the asylum system,” the department stated. “Fraud is inherently difficult to measure directly.” Still, it acknowledged the system is “currently under significant strain” with roughly 300,000 claims sitting in the inventory of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.Of the 79,462 refugee claims finalized last year, 50,067 were accepted, representing 63%. Another 14,619 claims, or 18%, were rejected outright. A further 7,944 claims, 10%, were abandoned, while 6,832 — about 8.6% — were withdrawn or resolved through other outcomes.“In total more than one third of finalized claims, 37%, did not result in a positive protection decision,” the report noted. While cautioning that rejection rates alone do not prove fraud, officials said the figures demonstrate that a substantial share of applicants ultimately fail to qualify for asylum..The department also pointed to 6,815 cases in which Immigration officials and the Canada Border Services Agency formally intervened to oppose refugee claims. Though interventions do not automatically confirm fraudulent intent, the report described them as an important safeguard against abuse.Additional data showed that 1,052 foreign nationals were intercepted last year attempting to cross from Canada into the United States, including 182 asylum claimants. Officials wrote that departing Canada after filing a refugee claim “suggests a claimant likely never intended to remain in Canada for legitimate protection needs.”Taken together, the department said, the indicators “point to the need for proactive measures to manage surges, deter misuse and preserve the fairness and credibility of the asylum system.”The findings appear to clash with recent comments from Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson, who dismissed claims of widespread abuse. “At most only a couple of dozen applications a year are actually found to be fraud,” Eyolfson told the Commons, criticizing references to so-called bogus asylum seekers.
