Local media reported that the number of Americans applying for refugees in Canada in the first half ..

Asylum inquiries increase amid discrimination concerns over transgender rights restrictions

사진 확대 The flags of the two countries are fluttering over the Peace Arch border checkpoint on the U.S.-Canada border in Blaine, Washington. [Photo = Yonhap News]

Local media reported that the number of Americans applying for refugees in Canada in the first half of this year reached its highest level since 2019.

According to Reuters on the 21st (local time), the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Commission (IRB) announced that 245 Americans sought asylum in Canada in the first half of this year, which has already exceeded the total number of refugee applications (204) last year.

Previously, during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency, the number of American refugee applicants to Canada increased rapidly. The number of Americans applying for Canadian refugees in the first half of this year is higher than in 2019, when President Trump was in office.

The data did not reveal the specific reason for applying for refugee status. But eight lawyers contacted by Reuters said they had recently seen a rise in asylum inquiries from transgender Americans.

Shortly after taking office in January, President Trump abolished various diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies promoted by the former Biden administration and introduced a series of measures to limit transgender rights. In January, it abolished its transgender military service availability policy, and in February, it signed an executive order banning transgender people from women’s sports.

The IRB recently added documents from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch that investigated the treatment of LGBTQ (LGBTQ) in the United States to a national document package explaining the human rights situation by country.

In the first half of this year, there were 55,000 Canadian refugee applicants, and the proportion of American applicants is insignificant. To obtain refugee status in Canada, you must demonstrate to the IRB that it is not safe anywhere in the United States. Canada has traditionally rarely accepted refugee applications from the United States.