Canadian PM ‘committed’ to Syrian refugee resettlement

Canada’s newly elected prime minister vowed Tuesday to resettle thousands of Syrian refugees by the end of the year, in contrast to calls from numerous elected officials in the United States to block the entry of Syrian refugees after Friday’s violence in Paris. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has its de facto headquarters in Syria, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

“It didn’t take the tragedy in Paris for us to suddenly realize that security’s important,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Ottawa Citizen newspaper on his way to a Group of 20 world leaders’ meeting in the Philippines. “We’ve known for a long time, and we continue to be very much committed to keeping Canadians safe while we do the right thing to engage responsibly on this humanitarian crisis.”  

Trudeau has promised to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015. On Monday, the head of Saskatchewan’s provincial government, Premier Brad Wall, said the Paris bombings and shootings that killed at least 129 people were reason to rethink how quickly the government admits refugees.

"If even a small number of individuals who wish to do harm to our country are able to enter Canada as a result of a rushed refugee resettlement process, the results could be devastating," Wall wrote in an open letter to Trudeau. “The recent attacks in Paris are a grim reminder of the death and destruction even a small number of malevolent individuals can inflict upon a peaceful country and its citizens.”

Advocates for immigrants’ rights in Canada and the U.S. have insisted that refugees are the least likely source of a threat, since they go through a more rigorous screening process than any other kind of immigrant.

Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, lost his seat to Trudeau of the Liberal Party last month after almost a decade in office. 

The new government has said it will stay on course to resettle the refugees before Dec. 31st.  “How many times do I have to say it — that is definitely our plan and we’re sticking to the plan,” Immigration Minister John McCallum told the Toronto Star newspaper. “So many Canadians think it is the right thing to do, as long as we do it right. I sense across the country, from all quarters — whether it is companies, governments, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) or individuals — there is an outpouring of support and a desire to help us get the job done right.”

Although Harper faced criticism from immigrant rights advocates for some of his policies, his administration in September doubled the workforce at the center that handles refugee applications, to speed up processing. His administration also promised to take in 10,000 refugees by September 2016, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.

Trudeau more than doubled the number of refugees and moved the deadline up to Dec. 31.

Janet Dench, executive director of the Montreal-based Canadian Council for Refugees, said many Canadians are excited to receive Syrians. Canadian culture values humanitarianism, she added, and the experience of taking in refugees decades ago from the Vietnam War and other Southeast Asian conflicts was “transformational” for the positive role Canada sees itself having in world affairs, she said. 

Canadian intelligence and immigration officials also have wide authority to deny requests for entry from refugees if they suspect someone poses a threat, with little room for appeal, she added. 

Immigration rights advocates in Canada say they are ready to receive the refugees. “We are waiting to ramp up services that we believe new refugees will need, and to make sure we have enough Arabic-speaking staff,” said Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Toronto-based Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. “We expect that they will need mental health services, trauma support. Many have lost families.”

In the U.S., House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he plans to introduce a bill this week to “pause” refugee resettlement. Separately, 26 U.S. governors have said after the Paris attacks that they would halt or slow the flow of Syrian refugees to their states. The White House was holding a conference about the issue on Tuesday, Reuters news agency reported.