September 1, 2022—Ottawa—The Government of Canada is committed to prioritizing the protection of the world’s most vulnerable. As access to international protection remains a challenge, Canada will continue its commitment to ensure that those in need have clear pathways to safety.
Through its leadership in the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (known as MIRPS), Canada will continue to contribute to asylum system capacity building, among other protection efforts for Central America and Mexico.
In support of MIRPS, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, reiterated today Canada’s support for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to strengthen asylum processing capacity in the Americas, through 3 capacity-building projects over the next 2 years.
The first project will help the Mexican Commission for Refugees Assistance increase its ability to process more asylum seekers in safer and more private spaces. This project will also deploy mobile asylum claim offices to regions experiencing an influx of claims or add capacity to other offices.
The second initiative seeks to increase the Mexican Commission’s capacity to handle asylum claims. This investment will support its ongoing case file digitization efforts, which will accelerate asylum claim processing in Mexico, minimize the risk of data loss, and help asylum seekers receive accurate and timely information about the status of their cases.
Finally, the third initiative will strengthen asylum capacity in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras. This project will provide essential technical and operational support to national authorities in these countries. This includes reducing asylum claim backlogs, providing training for immigration officials on country of origin information, and sharing information and best practices among asylum and immigration officials.
Support for these projects reflects Canada’s ongoing commitment as a member of the MIRPS Support Platform to offer protection and seek solutions for those in need. Through collaboration with partner countries, international financial institutions, the private sector, regional bodies and other stakeholders, Canada will continue taking action to ensure more predictable and sustainable support for refugees and the communities that host them.
