deflecting criticism that Canada was picking on any single country.

WikiLeaks exposes US stance on Canada visa move for Czechs, Mexicans

WikiLeaks diplomatic cable gives a US perspective on Canada’s decision to slap visa requirements on the Czech Republic and Mexico

A US diplomatic cable released on the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks shows how the Canadian move two years ago to impose visa requirements on Czechs and Mexicans simultaneously was aimed at deflecting criticism that Canada was picking on any single country.

“Canadian officials stated to ConOff [consular office] that the coupling of Mexico and the Czech Republic was intended to mitigate any charges of prejudice against one particular country,” the unclassified diplomatic dispatch from the US embassy in Mexico observed.

Canada took the step on July 13, 2009, in the Czech case prompted by a wave of asylum applications, largely from the Roma (“Gypsy”) community on the grounds of discrimination at home. Visa formalities for Czechs had been lifted in 2007.

The US dispatch noted the sharp response from Prague. “The Czech Republic has already recalled its ambassador and imposed visa requirements on Canadian diplomats and ‘businessmen.’” The Mexican response was “less acerbic” although they had not been given warning of the move as was the case with the Czechs, it added.

The US cable, dated July 16, 2009, also pointed out the prevalent feeling in Mexican media circles that Washington was indirectly behind Canada’s move in a step aimed at clamping down on Mexicans getting into the US through the large and relatively unsupervised Canadian-US border.

US officials made no secret that the Canadian move would probably benefit US border security. “This ‘July surprise’ will clearly fuel the short-term tensions between Canada and Mexico, just three weeks before Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper travels to Guadalajara for the North American Leaders Summit. Ultimately, however, it could improve Canadian-U.S. border security,” it noted.

The Canadian move had an almost immediate impact with the number of asylum applications from the Czech Republic dropping from over 2,000 in 2009 to almost zero in 2010, according to figures released in March by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Czech lawmakers in the European Parliament succeeded in getting a resolution against Canada’s visa renewal adopted in March. The resolution calls for the European Commission to take retaliatory steps unless the visa requirement is dropped. But Prague has so far failed to win more than a condemnation of the Canadian move from its European partners and the European Commission without any tit-for-tat retaliation taken by Brussels.

One problem is the traditional close ties between Britain and its former dominion; another is some sympathy for the Canadian action in countries, such as France, which have taken action against Romany immigrants from other EU countries, in particular Romania.

A delegation of Canadian immigration experts visited the Czech Republic in January to report back on steps being taken to protect and integrate ethnic minorities with a view to a possible change in the visa regime. Current tensions between Roma and the majority population in parts of the Czech Republic — and the desire on Canada’s part to tighten its asylum rules before taking such a step — make any alteration in the visa situation unlikely in the near term.

http://m.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/foreign-affairs/wikileaks-exposes-us-stance-canada-visa-move-czechs-mexicans?

Interesting selection.

Kinda reminds me of throwing North Korea into the "Axis of Evil" just so it wouldn't seem anti-Mulsim.