Record number of refugees checking in at Welcome Place

Welcome Place is seeing a record number of refugees registering after walking across the U.S.-Canada border.

"January has been an extremely busy month,"RitaChahal,executive director of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, told CBC Thursday."In January we opened 38 files, which is a record number for us especially in such cold weather."

The number of people seeking out Welcome Place's services has been slowly but steadily increasing, she said. Since October, 118 people have come. Since the beginning of April, they've opened 270 refugee claim files.

Last month, the Canadian Border Services Agency said that410 asylum-seekers crossed the border from April-December 2016, up from 340 the year before and 136 the year before that.

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Chahal notes those numbers only reflect refugees who have come to Welcome Place, but she believes that's the majority, as the centre helps people fileasylum claims, findlawyers, search for housing and get jobs in 40 languages.

However, it's possible some have carried on to other provinces.

Lately, Chahal says, people are mainly coming from Somalia, Ghana,Djibouti andNigeria.

She said it's too early to tell whether new border rules in the U.S. are related to the increase.

"Idon't think we've had sufficient time to analyze that," Chahal said. "But a number of them do tell us that they're afraid of what's happening in the U.S."

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Welcome Place has had to pull staff members from other departments to process the increase in files and is struggling with its donations-only budget, but Chahalsays the work is too important to stop.

"It is their right to make a claim," she said. "Canada is a signatory to the refugee convention of 1951. Infact it's not really illegal for them to cross and make a claim, because they have a right to do so under the convention."