New numbers show spike in asylum seekers crossing from U.S. to Manitoba

The number of asylum seekers crossingthe Canada-U.S. border into Manitoba on foot instead of through official ports of entry has risen fivefold in the past three years.

In the 2013-2014 fiscal year, 68 peopleillegally crossed the international border near the small, southern Manitoba community of Emerson and claimed refugee status, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). That jumped to 340 in 2015-2016.

This fiscal year's numbers have already surpassed that, with 410 asylum seekers making thejourney between April andDecember 2016.

AccordingtoJacquieCallin, aCBSAspokeswoman, most of those crossing near Emerson are from Somalia, which has been wracked by civil war and political instability since the overthrow of military dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

Canada has the reputation of being a land of liberty and appealsto the unprecedented number of refugees displaced by the world's various conflicts and crises,said immigration lawyerBashirKhan.

"What we are seeing as Canadians at our borders is basically a symptom of what a chaotic, messed-up world we live in," he said.

Khan said he is especially troubled by the number of peoplecrossing unsupervisedsections of the U.S.-Canada border in the cold winter months.

The potential dangers of that trek were highlighted by the harrowing story of two men from Ghana who are recovering from frostbite after walking into Canada and getting lost on Christmas Eve.

• Refugees frostbitten after walking to Manitoba border

CBSA reports 119 asylum seekers came to Manitobain the coldest winter months betweenDecember 2015andMarch 2016 without passing through a port of entry or border checkpoint.

"Normally, we don't get refugee claimants arriving from the U.S. in the winter by foot," said Khan. "These desperate soulsare coming to Canada at such great risk."

Under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement signed in 2002, individuals must seek asylum in the country in which they first arrive, with a few exceptions.For instance, if a Somali refugee who arrived in the United Statespresented themselves at the Canadian border seeking asylum, they would be sent back to the U.S. unless they had family in Canada.

Refugees canavoid being turned back by crossing somewhere other than an official port of entry or border checkpoint.

It's that threat of being turned back at official border crossings that is largely behind the increase in the number of asylum seekerscircumventing official checkpoints, said JanetDench, executive director of the national non-profit Canadian Council for Refugees.

'Someone is going to freeze to death'

Peopleentering the country without visas or proper immigration papers have been spotted walking throughfields and gravel roads near the border in Emerson, whose southern boundaryborders the states of North Dakota and Minnesota.

Doug Johnston, a councilor for the rural municipality of Emerson-Franklin,said the fire department frequently responds to well-being calls involving asylum seekerswho've just walked into Canada. Last week, it received at least two medical calls, he said.

• Hundreds of asylum seekers illegally entering Manitoba near Emerson border
• 'He was running away to save his life,' refugee says of men's frigid journey across border

"My guess is if this keeps up, somebody's going to get caught between the ports and probably perish, because it's like 25 C, and the snow's up to your waist right now," said Johnston. "Eventually, someone is going to freeze to death out there."

RCMP D Division patrols 520 kilometresof the Canada-U.S. border,the world's longest undefended border.When officers find a person trying to illegally cross, they bring them to the nearest port of entry to be assessed by aCBSAofficial.

If there's no admissibility concerns and the person's refugee claim is legitimate, they are released and a date is set for the claim to be heard.

Local farmer HowardFriesensaid arefugee from Somalia where many of those crossing into Manitobaare from stumbled across one of his fields two years ago.

"I saw something and it was moving on my field ... From the distance, you know, you thought oh maybe it's a deer," saidFriesen, who farms inHalbstadt.

It wasn't a deerbut a man coated in mud.

"One of the first things he asked me was, 'Am I in Canada?' and he asked me that three or four times," he said.

Friesensaid he brought the man into his house to let himshower and eat breakfast.

"He ate six eggs and six pieces of toast," saidFriesen."He was hungry. He had been walking a while."

The Trump effect

Immigration lawyers expect the number of asylum seekers crossing on foot to rise after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Trump has vowed to send Syrian refugees already accepted in the U.S. back to their home country, ban Muslims from entering the country and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to curb the flow of migrants.

Khan said he expects to see a spike around the time when Trump takes office until refugees get a sense of the direction in which the new president may take immigrationpolicy.

'To become a refugee is not a choice'

Ali Saeed knows firsthand what lengths refugees will go to in order to get freedom. Arefugee from Ethiopia,he was imprisoned and tortured in his home country as well as in Somalia a country he walked 563 kilometres through the desert to get to. He now sponsors refugees himself.

Saeed, who came to Winnipeg barefoot in 1984, said refugees put their lives at risk to get to Canada.

"They have to suffer and pay the ultimate price. Sometimeseven, they can die."

• AliSaeed'sstory of surviving torture featured at human rights museum

Saeed said a common misconception is that refugees come to Canada for a free ride.

"They don't like to be a refugee, but they have no choice," he said.

Read full coverage of refugees crossing the U.S. border into Manitoba