Spike in Romanian-Linked Crime Worries Canada

Opposition Conservatives in Canada are pressuring the country's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over an increase in asylum requests from Romania and a spike in Romanian-linked organised crimes linked to visa liberalisation introduced in December 2017.

A Canadian intelligence report published on Wednesday by Canada's Global News linked an increase in Romanian organised crime targeting Canada to when the visa waiver came into force.

"Will the Canadian government reinstate visas for Romanians and keep Canada safe?" Conservative MP Michele Rempel asked Trudeau on Wednesday in the Ottowa parliament.

"We are continuing to work with the Romanian government to ensure that our system works. We are working with them now to look at ways to ensure that organised crime and others are not using and abusing Canada's immigration system. This is something we take seriously," Trudeau responded.

This year, several Canadian media outlets have reported a rise in the number of women begging on the streets of Toronto. Most said they were Roma refugees from Romania seeking asylum in Canada due to the discrimination and abuse they had suffered at home.

Paul MacKinnon, assistant deputy minister with the Canadian Immigration Department, said before parliament's immigration committee in February that in only two months 232 Romanian nationals had claimed asylum since December.

By May 2018, the number had reached 1,022. 

The rapid increase led to meetings with the Romanian ambassador. Bucharest and Ottawa then agreed on a limit for the number of asylum claims Canada will accept from Romania before it reinstates visa requirements. The Canadian government did not make the number public "out of respect for Romania," however.

At the end of...