But this ignores the fact that Canadian Visa offices are concentrated in Western Europe and the U.S. far from countries that produce refugees and the fact that refugees often must flee very quickly. We need to protect the system from abuse. That documents are unavailable is the unfortunate result of war and human rights abuses. We have a refugee determination system to separate out the genuine refugees from the rest. Human smuggling is a growing criminal industry.
Unscrupulous smugglers are a serious problem.
But punishing their victims will not help. Desperate people are forced into the hands of smugglers because countries like Canada have built walls with interdiction measures. This issue is not being addressed by the imposition of a 5 year wait. Refugee protection is always contentious because it involves offering protection to strangers. Genuine refugees have a right to stay in Canada.