US 'Mistakes' Asylum Seeker for Inmate, Canada Shrugs
Mahin Shahriar, 28, a Bangladeshi asylum seeker in Canada since 2019, finds himself held by US ICE after an alleged 'accidental' border crossing via a 'friend's' sketchy property visit near Montreal. Canada's government, his lawyer notes, isn't exactly rushing to repatriate him. One might wonder if this 'mistake' would be so difficult to rectify if Mr. Shahriar had, say, a portfolio of investment
properties or a congressional lobbying career rather than a plea for refuge. This isn't an isolated 'oopsie' but a feature of North America's hardening borders. For years, the US and Canada have enacted policies designed to deter asylum seekers, including the infamous Safe Third Country Agreement which essentially punishes those attempting to cross the 'right' way. So, while Shahriar is now caught
in the 'land of the free's' notorious detention machine, one could argue Canada's passive inaction is merely an extension of the same punitive immigration framework. Human dignity, it appears, remains an optional add-on for the global North unless the 'mistake' offers a convenient pretext for further securitization.