Canadian bishops call for end of refugee agreement with U.S.

Published: 2006-01-11

OTTAWA (CNS) -- Canadian Catholic bishops called for the repeal of the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States and the end of racial profiling of Arab and Muslim communities. The recommendations were contained in a pastoral letter, "We Are Aliens and Transients Before the Lord Our God," published by the bishops' social affairs commission. Refugees must not be scapegoats because of heightened security concerns following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Archbishop Roger Ebacher of Gatineau, Quebec, at a Jan. 10 news conference on Parliament Hill to release the letter. He said most terrorists would probably not go to the trouble of trying to enter the country as refugees. He urged Canadians not to become prejudiced toward refugees and migrants, who face poverty, separation from families and persecution in their home countries. "It is a fundamental inversion of values when laws and politics place national interests before human dignity," said Archbishop Ebacher, who chairs the social affairs commission.

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