Asylum: Air Travellers and Asylum Claimants

asylum: Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Tues., March 21, 2017 There were four times more asylum claimants arriving at land border crossings than at airports in the first two months of 2017, new Canadian data show, according to Toronto Star. In January and February, a total of 525 air travellers 400 in Ontario, 90 in Quebec, 35 in British Columbia and nine in Alberta sought asylum upon arrival at airports, said the Canada Border Services Agency. Asylum trends have much to do with the political climate in refugee-receiving countries, one expert says. By contrast, 2,145 people crossed at official land border ports of entry and made refugee claims during the same period, including 1,085 in Quebec, 905 in Ontario, 80 in Manitoba, and 35 each in Alberta and British Columbia. The numbers of claimants arriving at land border crossings and airports for the same period of 2016 were not immediately available. In addition to the migrants who made it through the border either legally or illegally and later filed what are known as inland claims, Canada received claims from a total of 5,520 refugees in the two months a 48 per cent increase from the same period a year ago. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.