After Roxham Road closed

They’ve traveled thousands of kilometres, on journeys that sometimes take years. They are fleeing upheaval and conflict such as war, persecution or sexual violence. They come from countries such as Nigeria, Haiti or Columbia. And, since March 25, 2023, when the Canadian government closed the crossing at Roxham Road, refugees arriving at the rural Quebec border seeking entry to Canada have been turned away. They will never be able to seek asylum here again.

For Grace Bubeck, who lives in the area of Hemmingford, Quebec, and who has a front row seat to this humanitarian crisis, the closure of Roxham Road to migrants seeking refugee protection is both a human tragedy and a shift that undermines what Canada stands for.

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden announced changes to the way the Safe Third Country Agreement would be implemented, Bubeck and the handful of volunteers who operate a non-profit called Bridges Not Borders have been calling attention to the stories of the refugee claimants being turned away.

Immediately following the closure, Bridges Not Borders volunteers took turns travelling to a bus depot located in a convenience store in Plattsburgh, New York, about 30 minutes south of the border. There they met the weary, shocked and despairing travelers who had no idea their journeys would end in rejection. In April, this included a group of asylum-seekers from Venezuela, including a woman who was eight months pregnant; two men who left Afghanistan last March and have been traveling for a year via Brazil; and a Kurdish family of five from Turkey, including a one-year-old baby.

“They are denied entry,” Bubeck says, “unless they qualify for entry as one of the exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement.“

The government reported that it would open up 15,000 extra spots to asylum seekers through regular channels such as the Immigration and Refugee Board in response, but Montreal-based immigration lawyer Viviane Albuquerque told CBC “we haven’t heard anything on that. I haven’t heard how or where.”

Looking for safety’

Many migrants have spent their last resources to take a bus to Plattsburgh, from where others had previously crossed on foot into Canada, and safety. They have no money for food or travel. No place to stay. No plan for what to do next. Only a dream of safety and welcome that was unexpectedly destroyed.

They rely on translators and the kindness of Bubeck and the other volunteers, including a group in Plattsburgh, to deal with a rejection that will change their lives forever. “It’s heartbreaking,” Bubeck says. “These are people who we would have welcomed in Canada as refugees. Instead, there is nothing we can do for them except buy them some food, give them some information. For them, the details are difficult to understand. They don’t speak English or French, how could people understand? They are just looking for safety.”

Despite Roxham’s closure, the journeys of desperation and heartbreak continue. “There are still people going to the border,” Bubeck said. “They are still not aware. They don’t realize Roxham Road is closed.”

Bubeck is among those who believe the Safe Third Country Agreement is deeply flawed. Bridges Not Borders joined the many groups, including the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) and Amnesty International, who are seeking its suspension. And while they waited for the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, this latest change was a shock. “We felt stunned,” Bubeck says. “It was totally unexpected.”

“We are our sister’s and our brother’s keeper,” said Pastor Peter Noteboom, General Secretary of The CCC, in a Canadian Council of Churches news story. “Canadians want Canada to live up to its human rights responsibilities and to be generous in welcoming refugees.”

For Bubeck, Roxham Road represented “humaneness in Canadian politics. Roxham Road was something unique that did not exist elsewhere in the world. It was a relatively humane and safe way for people to cross into Canada and make their claim for refugee status.

“It’s ironic, that we are [mostly] all products of immigration, and who are we to deny that to those who come after us, to people who are in danger and are desperate to make a new life for themselves?”

Why did they leave?

Top reasons Roxham Road asylum-seekers have fled their homes, as listed on the Bridges Not Borders website. In some places, people have endured decades of conflict, upheaval and displacement.
● War
● Conflict
● Persecution
● Torture
● Human rights abuses
● Genocide
● Terrorism
● Sexual violence
● Climate change
● Famine