7 'irregular' border crossings into Sask. reported by RCMP this year
Asylum seekers are coming to Saskatchewan, but not nearly in the numbers officials are seeing in Manitoba and Quebec.
Public Safety Canada said RCMP have intercepted seven people who crossed the border "irregularly" — meaning somewhere other an official border crossing — into Saskatchewan so far this year.
Five of the incidents happened in January and two this March.
It's against the law for anyone — citizen or not — to cross the border into Canada somewhere other than an official point of entry.
The government didn't say whether any of the seven made refugee claims, or how those people crossed the border.
It's also not clear whether these crossings are of the same nature as the illegal border crossings happening in larger numbers in other provinces.
But CBC has been told Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada processed two inland asylum claims in Saskatchewan in the first two months of 2017.
Spike in asylum claims
The number of asylum claims at borders in Saskatchewan is historically much lower than Manitoba's, with only a handful of claims in most years since 2011.
Last year, however, there was a spike, with 29 claims at the border.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the focus of attention now is on Emerson, Man., and Lacolle, Que.
"There have been minor incidents elsewhere but nothing of any statistical consequence," Goodale said Tuesday.
