The political reasons behind Canada's controversial asylum policy
加拿大备受争议的庇护政策背后的政治原因
SINCE the 2001 terrorist attacks, America has been criticising Canada for lax border controls, claiming they had turned the country into “a safe haven” for criminals and terrorists. Canada had seemed to ignore the charge. But on August 31st Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government proudly announced that, for the first time, 80 customs officers along its border with America had been equipped with guns in a first step to arming all its 4,800 border guards by 2017.
自从2001年遭受恐怖袭击以来，美国就批评加拿大松散的边界管理，声称松散的管理已经把加拿大变成了犯罪分子和恐怖分子的“安全避难所”。加拿大似乎对这些指责并不给与理睬。但是，在8月31日，斯蒂芬.哈珀的少数保守党政府自豪的宣布：驻守于加美边界的80名海关警察已经配备了枪支，这是有史以来的第一次，也为实现到2017年边界警卫增至4800名的目标而迈出的第一步。
Despite government denials, all kinds of undesirables are getting into Canada under the country's dysfunctional “refugee” system. While doing little to save genuine refugees in camps abroad, it has opened the door to queue-jumping economic migrants, big-time crooks and terrorists, as documented in numerous reports (notably from the federal government's security service and auditor-general) over more than 20 years. In 1999, the Americans nabbed an Algerian asylum-seeker as he tried to cross the border from Canada with explosives intended to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.
尽管政府一再否认，但事实上各种不良分子正在从国家不健全的难民体制下溜进加拿大。正如20多年来的众多报道（主要来自于联邦政府安全部和总审计长）显示，加拿大已经向成群结队的经济移民、一流的诈骗犯和恐怖分子敞开了大门，但却没有救助国外难民营真正需要帮助的人。1991年，美国逮捕了一名试图从加美边界进入美国的阿尔及利亚籍庇护寻求者，他带有炸药，目的是炸毁洛杉矶国际机场。
Canada is the easiest country in the developed world in which to obtain refugee status. Most countries accept no more than around 15% of all applicants, whereas Canada accepts more than half. Attracted by an entitlement to the same legal rights and social benefits as for Canadian citizens, some 25,000 asylum-seekers make their way to Canada every year. Many come from safe, but less generous, third countries, often paying people-smugglers up to $50,000 each for false passports and airline tickets.
加拿大是发达国家中最容易取得避难身份的国家。大部分国家之接受不到15%的申请者，而加拿大却接受一半以上。由于难以抵挡享受与加拿大公民相同的合法权利和社会福利的诱惑，每年有两万五千名左右的庇护寻求者前往加拿大。许多来自有安全但相对贫穷的第三世界国家，他们通常每人要付给蛇头高达5万美金的假护照和机票费用。
Once in Canada, they know they will be able to stay—and work—there for at least four years, while pursuing their appeals through the courts. Even if their claims are ultimately rejected, there is a good chance they will never actually be deported; the backlog of unexecuted removal orders is around 50,000. Many end up as citizens.
一旦到了加拿大，他们就知道他们将会留在这里工作至少四年，同时向有关部门提出定居申请，即使申请被最终驳回，事实上被驱除出境的机率并不高；未执行的驱逐令堆积如山近5万份。大部分最终成为加拿大公民。
Canadians have become increasingly incensed by a series of high-profile cases of failed asylum-seekers who should be long gone. The most glaring is that of Mahmoud Mohammed Issa Mohammed, a Palestinian terrorist who took part in an Israeli airline hijacking; one passenger was killed. Ordered to be deported in 1988, he is still in Canada after some 30 appeals and reviews. Lai Changxing, one of China's most wanted criminal suspects, continues to launch appeals from his Vancouver home after being ordered to leave in 2000. And Rakesh Saxena, wanted in Thailand on embezzlement charges, who also lives in Vancouver, has been fighting extradition for the past ten years.
本该早就被驱除出境的一些非法避难者仍旧自由的生活在加拿大境内，这一系列的案例逐渐激怒了加拿大民众。其中最受关注的是巴勒斯坦恐怖分子马哈茂德穆罕默德伊萨穆罕默德，他参与劫持一架以色列航班，造成1人死亡。他本因在1988年被依法驱除出境，但经过30几次的上诉和复审以后，现在仍然身居加拿大。赖昌新，中国头号犯罪嫌疑通缉犯，在2000年被命令出境，但至今仍然在温哥华家中继续提起上诉。Rakesh Saxena，因盗用公款被泰国政府通缉，目前也居住在温哥华，十年来一直反对被引渡回国。
Remembering their own immigrant roots, most Canadians like to be generous to newcomers. But another refugee case, involving a paralysed Sikh, is beginning to test their patience. After entering Canada on a false passport in 2003, Laibar Singh applied for asylum, claiming that he would be tortured if returned to his native Punjab, where he was “falsely” accused of being a Sikh militant. His application was turned down, three times.
大部分加拿大人都不会忘记自己的移民之路，所以他们对新到的移民都很慷慨。但是有个关于一位瘫痪的印度锡克教徒的难民案例开始考验他们的忍耐度。在 2003年用假护照进入加拿大后，黎巴星格便开始申请庇护，声称他被误控为印度锡克激进分子，如果回到家乡旁遮普就会面临严刑折磨。他的三次申请都被拒绝了。
Last year, he suffered a stroke that left him paralysed, unable to feed himself and dependent on state-Provided medical care. Faced with imminent deportation, he sought sanctuary in July in a Sikh temple near Vancouver, but was arrested when he went to hospital to get treatment. Last month Stockwell Day, Canada's public-safety minister, granted him a 60-day reprieve on “humanitarian” grounds, after the Sikh community had announced plans for a big protest demonstration. It is now widely expected that Mr Singh will end up being allowed to stay in Canada.
去年，他因得了中风而瘫痪，生活不能自理，只能依靠政府医疗。面对将要被驱除出境的危机，他七月份在温哥华附近的印度锡克教庙找到了庇护，但是当他去医院接受治疗时被逮捕了。上个月，在印度锡克教组织宣布了一个大规模的抗议示威计划后，加拿大公共安全部长Stockwell Day以“人道主义”为理由，批准他获得60天的暂缓执行期。现在人们普遍认为
黎巴星格将会最终留在加拿大。
The main reason behind the refugee mess, critics say, is politics. If the Conservatives are to have a chance of forming a majority government after the next general election, they will need to pick up seats in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where ethnic communities are concentrated. All three national political parties pander to the ethnic vote. None wants to close the back door to new immigrants. Although the polls suggest that ordinary Canadians want the abuse to end, there is no political will. As James Bissett, former head of the Canadian immigration service, says: “It might take a bomb going off here to change this system.”
评论家称，政治因素是造成避难情况混乱的原因。如果保守党想要在下一次大选中获得过半选票，他们就必须得到多伦多、蒙特利尔和温哥华的选票，这些地方正好是少数民族的集中地。国家三大党都迫切需要少数民族的投票，没有一个想把新移民拒之门外。虽然民意测验显示普通的加拿大居民都想结束目前混乱的状况，但并不是政治意愿。正如前加拿大移民服务主席说詹姆士.贝斯特所说：“恐怕只有炸弹那样大的威力才能改变现有的移民体系”
Sep 13th 2007 | VANCOUVER From The Economist print edition
