Canada should admit up to 10,000 Syrian refugees says Amnesty International Canada and the Syrian Canadian Council. Canada promised to resettle 1,300, most of whom were to be privately sponsored. So far only 457 have arrived.
Around 3.8 million people who have fled the civil war in Syria are being hosted in five main countries in the region and only 1.7 per cent have been offered sanctuary, according Amnesty’s report. Some of the world’s wealthiest countries have failed to offer a single place.
Canada’s response called ‘miserly’
In a news conference the head of Amnesty International Canada, Alex Neve asked whether things would be different if the Syrian refugees weren’t Muslims and asked how else to explain the Canadian government’s “miserly” response.
‘We will do more’
In the House of Commons on Friday, government spokesman Costas Menegakis said “We can do more and we will do more.” He repeated earlier statements that 1,150 Syrians have received Canada’s protection to date and added that the refugees “will be here in short order.”
By comparison, by the end of 1972 Canada had admitted 4,420 people of Asian heritage who fled Uganda and in 1999 it admitted 5,000 Kosovars.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.