Statistics Show Bogus Asylum Seekers Racking Up Health Care Costs

George Dumont hospital in Moncton. The Canadian government spends approximately $20 million a year on health care for asylum seekers. (Stu Pendousmat)

Immigration Canada released statistics on health care spending for refugee claimants yesterday to bolster its case that the recent scaling back of free health care for asylum seekers was necessary.

The statistics show that refugee claimants from Mexico, Hungary, Columbia, the United States and Jamaica, all countries that do not have a record of human rights abuse and persecution, received millions of dollars worth of Canadian health care services for free through the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), and proportionally more than asylum seekers from any other country.

Immigration Canada’s data shows that health care costs for 8,819 Mexican asylum seekers came to $7 million last year, for 6,749 Hungarians to $4.4 million, for 4,583 Columbians to $2.6 million, for 3,790 Americans to over $1.4 million and for 809 Jaimaican asylum seekers to $808,000.

Almost all of the claimants from these countries end up not attending their refugee hearings, withdrawing their refugee application, or having their claim rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that this made it necessary to reduce the range of free health care services provided to asylum seekers to prevent abuse of Canada’s refugee system.

“That does underscore the reasons why we’ve reformed the Interim Federal Health Program. There’s no doubt that it has been a draw factor for many false asylum claims,” commented Mr. Kenney.

Under changes to Canada’s Refugees System with the enactment of Bill C-31 on June 11th, free pharmaceutical, vision and dental care for refugee claimants was eliminated, which supporters of the cuts argue is fair as none of these services are available to Canadian citizens through Medicare.

The extent of the abuse of the Interim Federal Health Program was highlighted by Minister Kenney as he cited interviews Canada Border Service agents have conducted with some Hungarian asylum seekers when they were withdrawing their applications for refugee status, in which the claimants admitted that they had come to Canada to receive free dental care for their children, and now that they had gotten it, there was no reason to stay.

Conservative Government Introduces ‘Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act’

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last week introduced legislation to speed up the deportation of foreign criminals from Canada. Under current laws, some refugee claimants who have been convicted of crimes have been able to delay their deportation for years through repeated appeals of removal orders, while receiving welfare and other government benefits during their time in Canada.

The new legislation, the ‘Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act’, would:

  • eliminate the right of convicted criminals who have been sentenced to more than six months in prison to file an appeal of a removal order to the Immigration Appeal Division
  • eliminate the right of foreign nationals who have been found by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to have committed serious security, human rights, and international rights violations, or had involvement with organized crime, to appeal for refugee status under “Humanitarian and Compassionate” provisions
  • make foreign nationals who have family members who have been found by the federal government to be inadmissible to visit Canada on grounds of security, human or international rights violations, or organized criminality, also inadmissible to visit Canada, even if travelling without that family member

In 2010, the Conservative government briefly barred George Galloway, an anti-war British MP, pictured above, from entering Canada (David Hunt from Warwickshire, UK)

The legislation would also give the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration the discretion to wave inadmissibility restrictions for an individual, and to deny temporary resident status to foreign nationals who have not been found inadmissible to visit Canada due to security, human or international rights violations, or organized criminality, based on public policy considerations.

In 2010, the Conservative government attempted to prevent George Galloway, an anti-war British MP, from entering Canada, based on accusations that he supported terrorism. The discretionary powers granted by the new legislation would codify the ability of the federal government to prevent particular foreign nationals who meet all legislated eligibility requirements for visiting Canada from entering the country.