Canada's Treatment of Immigration Detainees

The University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and several human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, have prepared a joint submission on 'Rights Violations Associated with Canada’s Treatment of Vulnerable Persons in Immigration Detention.' The submission has been sent to the United Nations in hopes of raising awareness about Canada's treatment of immigration detainees, especially children and people with mental health conditions.

The Human Rights Watch has endorsed the submission's recommendations. Some of the recommendations include: 

• "Canada should create a legislative presumption against detention beyond 90 days, which means that after three months, detainees should be released unless there’s clear and compelling evidence to hold them."
• "There should be an independent body to investigate the Canada Border Services Agency."
• "Canada should implement community-based alternatives to detention, like having detainees be released into the community with reporting obligations and guarantors."