Although Canada committed to taking in 1,300 Syrian refugees, no more than 10 have so far been admitted and the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, is asking Canada and other nations to accept more. UNHCR says there are currently over 2.5 million Syrian refugees.
“Unconscionable” is how Prof. Patti Lenard of the University of Ottawa characterizes Canada’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis. She says the number of refugees Canada agreed to resettle was extraordinarily small. And she does not accept the government’s defence that delays in have been caused by difficulties in processing applications from Syria. She does acknowledge that Canada is providing humanitarian support for refugees where they are, but decries what she sees as an unwillingness to bring more of them to Canada.
‘Lack of political will’
“The Canadian government has (in the past) typically been very, very responsive in the cases of refugee needs,” says Lenard. “They’ve been able to process thousands of applications in very short periods of time. So this very slow response and claims that the applications are difficult to process, I think, is disingenuous and reflects a lack of political will to help people in desperate need.”
In 1999, Canada resettled 5,500 refugees from Kosovo and in 1992, it took in 5,000 from Bosnia, notes Lenard. Comparing the crises, she estimates Canada should be accepting between 20,000 and 25,000 Syrians.
‘We have the capacity to do a lot more’
“Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world,” says Lenard. “We have a reputation for being highly able at providing support for and integration to new immigrants. This is something that we’re good at, we have a reputation for being excellent at. We have the capacity to do a lot more…The UNHCR has come out critical of many states and I think that criticism should have particular bite in Canada.”
Sweden, a country with a third of Canada’s population has welcomed nearly 15,000 displaced Syrians in the last few years, notes opposition Member of Parliament Stephane Dion. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has not said whether Canada will accede to the UN request that it take more Syrian refugees, but he said he would consider it.
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