Alexander also knew that only a handful of Syrian refugees had been approved to come to Canada when he dodged news media questions on the subject earlier this year, even hanging up in the middle of a national radio interview on the subject.
The revelations are contained in internal documents obtained by the Citizen, and come amid growing frustration by some over the Conservative government’s response to what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation.
Alexander’s office did not respond to requests for an update on the government’s commitment, made to the UN last year, to resettle 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014.
Instead, spokesman Kevin Menard said: “Canada has been a world leader in responding to the crisis in Syria.
“We are committed to doing more, with our international partners, though it should be noted that this crisis will not be solved by resettling refugees to Western countries alone.”
Nearly 2.5 million Syrians have fled into neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq since fierce fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces erupted in 2011. The situation has got worse with the rise of the Islamic State (ISIL) and other extremist groups.
In July 2013, Canada agreed to accept 1,300 Syrian refugees after the UN asked the international community to resettle 30,000 asylum seekers. The commitment included taking 200 through the UN, and having churches and private groups organize the rest.
But the Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Agreement Holders Association, which represents most of those private groups, hadn’t been warned its members would be saddled with such an undertaking.
The association wrote to Alexander shortly after the July 2013 announcement, and again in March 2014, indicating it would be hard-pressed to fulfil the commitment for a variety of reasons, including the absence of an established link between the Syrian community and sponsorship groups.
“It takes time to develop relationships, train and motivate Constituent Groups, raise funds, prepare paperwork, and process applications,” the association wrote in a letter dated March 21.
Four days later, C.I.C. officials told Alexander in a briefing note that the government “will not meet its Syrian (private sponsorship) commitment by the end of 2014” because “it takes time for private sponsors to organize and raise the funds to welcome a refugee to Canada.”
Highlighting the point, officials provided Alexander an update on June 10 that showed just 58 private sponsorship applications had been approved since January.
The update, which did not say how many, if any, had actually arrived in Canada, was provided the day before Alexander hung up on CBC’s As It Happens when he was being asked about the government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
The minister later said he hung up because he was late getting to question period. But the incident prompted suspicions the government was lagging in its promise to resettle 1,300 Syrian refugees.
Alexander had repeatedly said more than 1,150 Syrians had received “Canada’s protection,” a figure he also cited in the House of Commons throughout the spring.
However, the documents show that number refers to all Syrian refugees accepted since 2011, including 942 who had travelled to Canada on their own before applying for asylum in the country.
Only 219 had actually been resettled from overseas, of which 93 had arrived in 2014 and would count toward the commitment to take in 1,300.
Liberal immigration critic John McCallum says the fact the Conservative government won’t meet its own “pathetically, ridiculously small” commitment demonstrates it has no real interest in accepting Syrians into Canada.
“They don’t care,” he said Friday. “It’s not a priority. If they cared, they could get the United Nations and people out in the field to give them huge numbers. There’s no shortage of needy people out there.”
NDP immigration critic Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe said the documents could explain why Alexander has been extremely evasive when asked to provide concrete numbers about how many Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada as part of its commitment to the UN.
“I would be very ashamed if I was the minister and I wasn’t able to fulfil such a small commitment in that massive crisis,” she said. “There’s nothing to be proud of in how the government has answered the international call.”
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com/
Author: Lee Berthiaume
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