The federal government is seeking to resettle more Syrian refugees but only from the country’s religious minorities, according to sources close to discussions around Canada’s position on refugees from the war-torn nation.
Canada has been struggling to meet an earlier commitment from July 2013 to resettle 1,300 Syrians by the end of this year.
Statistics tabled in the House of Commons last week, showed 457 refugees had arrived as of mid-November.
On Tuesday, the government updated that number to 703. Kevin Menard, a spokesman for the immigration minister wrote CBC News on Friday saying that the numbers are "going up fairly quickly."
Refugee advocacy organizations in Canada have been asking the government to take in 10,000 more Syrians over the next two years and the UN says it is in dire need of assistance as the civil war intensifies.
Canada, along with other Western nations, was urged to do more this week at a conference on Syrian refugees held in Geneva by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
CBC News has confirmed that the parliamentary secretary to the minister of immigration, Costas Menegakis, travelled to Geneva earlier this week. He held meetings but left without making any new commitment to the UN's refugee agency.
Sources close to the discussions say Canada is seeking to resettle only refugees from Syria’s religious minorities, something that would likely be difficult for the UN's refugee agency to accept.
The UNHCR's policy on refugees says a resettlement state determines the "size and composition" of who and how many refugees it accepts, and "therefore has full control with respect to decisions on individual cases."
"Nevertheless, UNHCR urges all states to be guided by the agency’s internationally recognized criteria on eligibility, global needs and priorities," the policy says.
"To preserve the integrity of resettlement as a protection tool and durable solution for refugees most in need, it is important to ensure resettlement programmes are needs‐based, non‐discriminatory and achieve successful integration outcomes."
'Categorically false'
In a written reply to questions from CBC News, Menard reiterated Canada’s commitment to help Syrians since the start of the crisis.
"We continue to work with international partners to ensure Canada remains a world leader in providing protection to the world’s most vulnerable populations," he said in an email.
In the email, he did not respond to specific questions asking whether Canada is seeking to put restrictions on new Syrian refugees — limiting them to religious minorities.
Continue reading here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-considers-prioritizing-religious-minorities-in-syria-refugee-resettlement-1.2870916En dan die getallen die hier binnenkomen. Volgens mij zouden de Canadeze flauw vallen!
Interessant artikel? Deel het eens met uw netwerk en help mee met het verspreiden van de bekendheid van dit blog. Er staan wellicht nog meer artikelen op dit weblog die u zullen boeien. Kijk gerust eens rond. Zelf graag wat willen plaatsen? Mail dan webmaster@vreemdelingenrecht.com In verband met geldwolven die denken geld te kunnen claimen op krantenartikelen die op een blog als deze worden geplaatst maar na meestal een dag voor de krantenlezers aan leeswaardigheid hebben ingeboet terwijl wij vreemdelingenrecht specialisten ze soms wel nog jaren gebruiken om er een kopie van te maken voor een zaak ga ik over tot het plaatsen van alleen het eerste stukje. Ja ik weet het: de kans dat u doorklikt is geringer dan wanneer het hele artikel hier staat en een kopie van het orgineel maken handig kan zijn voor uw zaak. Wilt u zelf wat overnemen van dit weblog. Dat mag. Zet er alleen even een link bij naar het desbetreffende artikel zodat mensen niet alleen dat wat u knipt en plakt kunnen lezen maar dat ook kunnen doen in de context.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten