Immigration detention concerns identified by the Canadian Red Cross

OTTAWA – The Canadian Red Cross Society’s 2012-13 report on detention of immigrants in five provinces found failure to comply with national or international standards in eight areas:

— Inspectors’ lack of access to immigrant detainees in some western and Atlantic provinces;

— Legal guarantees, such as access to a lawyer;

— Minors in detention;

— Commingling of immigrant detainees with criminal suspects;

— Mental health in detention;

— Detainees’ access to family;

— Need for alternatives to detention, such as electronic monitoring;

— Challenges faced by foreign nationals detained as a group.

(Source: Canadian Red Cross Society report released by the Canada Border Services Agency)