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Canada ‘lost track’ of 35,000 foreigners slated for removal: audit

By AFP
July 09, 2020

OTTAWA: Canada´s Border Services Agency “lost track” of two thirds of some 50,000 foreigners who had been hit with expulsion orders, an audit presented to parliament on Wednesday found.

The agency, which is responsible for enforcing removal orders, were unable to locate 34,700 foreigners, mainly asylum seekers slated for deportation because their requests had been rejected, the report by the Office of the Auditor General said.

In remaining 15,300 pending cases, the agency knew their whereabouts but in many cases had delayed action for several years. “Most orders had been enforceable for years, including criminal cases and failed asylum claimants,” the report said. “The accumulation of enforceable removal orders has been an ongoing issue for the Canada Border Services Agency,” it said, adding that enforcement was hindered by poor data and flaws in case management. Also contributing to the backlog were deficiencies in information sharing with Canada´s immigration, refugee and citizenship ministry, it found.