Canada Will Double Syrian Refugees Admitted in 2016

The Canadian government have agreed to cover the cost of travel for Syrian refugees, although other refugee groups still need to pay for their travel to Canada. “There are human and weather complications that it is impossible for me to confirm with certainty. The issue is whether all of those 10,000 Syrian refugees will have arrived in Canada, will have their feet on Canadian soil by December 31”, McCallum told reporters at a press conference in Ottawa Wednesday.

On November 24, the Canadian government amended its refugee policy to accept 25,000 Syrian men, women and children.

Families who are accepted for resettlement are sponsored by individuals and charities.

John McCallum said Wednesday he is “very confident” that a total of 25,000 refugees will be here before the end of February.

As of December 21, 2,393 refugees, who haven’t yet travelled to Canada, have had their applications processed. So far, about 1,600 refugees have arrived.

John McCallum was in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Sunday, meeting with Syrian families preparing to board flights to Canada. The first planeload of Syrian refugees landed in Toronto earlier this month and was met by Trudeau.

Meanwhile Canada continues to welcome more and more. “Vulnerable host community populations have reported decreases in wages and deteriorating working conditions due to increased competition for low and unskilled jobs”, states the UNHCR’s Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan 2016 – 2017.

For years, the millions displaced by the ongoing civil war in Syria barely registered in Canada, but a single death this fall suddenly brought the conflict home. The new landfill is one of several projects that Canada is funding in the region, to help shore up local resources that have been stretched thin by the refugee influx.

During the election, the Liberals promised to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada by the end of the year, a higher number than both the NDP and Conservatives combined.