Canada and Mohammad Nasir Askarzada

Mohammad Nasir Askarzada: N.Y. - Lawyers for one of three Afghan military officers facing deportation after sneaking away from a military training exercise in Massachusetts said he was improperly denied entry into Canada when he arrived at the border seeking refugee status. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Refugee advocates say the case proves some of their worst fears about the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement, which has dramatically decreased the flow of asylum seekers through the United States into Canada. They say the rules have been applied unevenly and have left some non-criminal claimants, like the Afghan officers, behind bars in the United States and facing life-or-death removal proceedings. Afghan Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada with his daughter in Kabul Afghanistan. AP Photo/Razmeen Joya Capt. Mohammad Nasir Askarzada has an uncle in Montreal, the attorneys said, which should have made him exempt from a 10-year-old treaty under which he and the other officers apparently were turned away. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.