OTTAWA—A collective of human rights groups and refugee advocates is raising “urgent concerns” about the Trudeau government’s minister of border security and organized crime reduction. They say the new cabinet role creates more confusion about Ottawa’s handling of refugee claimants and risks fanning prejudice toward asylum seekers crossing into Canada from the United States.

“This development stands to deepen public fears, misunderstandings and stereotypes,” the groups wrote in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that was signed by Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Council for Refugees, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and six other organizations.

The letter takes particular aim at the name of the new portfolio, arguing it unjustly associates asylum seekers with crime. This “inescapably risks feeding the very dangerous narrative that people who are fleeing for their lives are breaking the law,” the letter says.

The new portfolio was created July 18 when Trudeau shuffled his cabinet and named former Toronto police chief Bill Blair as his government’s minister for border security and organized crime reduction. At the time, the prime minister praised Blair’s “public security experience” as a reason he could look at the question of irregular migrants, which until then had fallen under the shared auspices of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Blair’s office said the new minister was not available for an interview Thursday, but provided an emailed statement that said the government is “committed to upholding our international obligations and will continue to call out inflammatory rhetoric which creates fear and division.”

Spokesperson Hilary Peirce added that Blair is meant to tackle irregular migration, organized crime and illegal guns, as well as the legalization of cannabis. Blair’s mandate letter, which will outline his role in more detail, will be out this month, she said.

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Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, said Blair’s appointment has baffled refugee advocates who still don’t know how responsibilities for asylum seekers will be divided between the three ministers. The Prime Minister’s Office has not published a “mandate letter” for Blair’s new role, which would outline what Trudeau expects him to accomplish.

Neve said the lack of clarity is a problem because rights groups and refugee advocates don’t know which minister to speak with.

“The question that hangs there is the probability that this was mainly done for political reasons,” Neve said.

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Canadian Council of Refugees President Claire Roque said Blair’s appointment could also fuel “misconceptions” that the number of refugee claims is out of control and requires a new ministry to handle the situation. Government figures show police have intercepted tens of thousands of people who have avoided official ports of entry over the past two years. The surge spiked in August 2017, when more than 5,500 asylum claimants were intercepted in Quebec. In the first six months of 2018, police have intercepted 10,744 irregular border crossers, with totals dropping by several hundred each month since April.

“The mood in so many parts of the world — and sadly in some parts of Canada — is increasingly hostile and suspicious when it comes to refugees,” Neve said. “And this very much stands to contribute to that mood rather than to address and alleviate it.”

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