Canada to give United Nations $75 million for Syrian refugee relief

In Canada on Thursday, Bibeau told reporters that the money would help the UN High Commissioner for Refugees provide shelter, protection, education and health to some of the millions affected by the Syrian civil war.

“With over four million Syrian refugees in the region, I hope more countries will follow Canada’s example and not only help us address the enormous needs in the neighbouring states but provide more opportunities for refugees to find safety elsewhere”, Guterres said in a statement.

Tunis disputed reports that single men would be excluded, citing a technical briefing from David Manicom, the assistant deputy minister with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The government also said it is honouring a commitment made by the previous Conservative government to match donations by Canadians to the global relief efforts. People have until December 31 to make donations, which will be matched to a ceiling of $100 million, officials said. They argued that people fleeing persecution already face major challenges finding homes, work and language training, so the last thing they need is to have to service an interest-bearing loan of up to $10,000. Canada’s foreign minister, Stephane Dion, called his Lebanese counterpart to ask to help speed it up.

Deborah Tunis, Special Coordinator for Syrian Refugee Settlement for the Canadian government speaks to reporters at the Canadian Council for Refugees national consultation in Hamilton, Ont., Thursday, November 26, 2015.

“For Canada it would be about 11 million refugees – 11 million refugees!”

But the government’s decision to lightly tap the brakes on the resettlement process is being lauded by experts who implored them to take a bit more time to do it right.

“We know that Syrian refugees are cutting on meals, taking on debt to meet their basic daily needs and risking their lives to leave Syria”, she said.

Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa, Marie-Claude Bibeau said the money will go toward providing food, clothing, medicine, schooling and other necessities for refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, as well as helping European countries to deal with the influx of Syrian refugees.

Canada’s funding announcement coincides with its humanitarian programme to transfer of 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February 2016 for which UNHCR has also expressed strong support.