when they coming to Guyana?

Liberals won't meet deadline to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year's end

Government aims to bring 10,000 refugees by Dec. 31, the remainder by March 2016

By Kathleen Harris, Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Nov 24, 2015 2:51 PM ET, Last Updated: Nov 24, 2015 6:44 PM ET, Source

Five Syrian babies, three of them triplets (left to centre), lie on blankets among their relatives as they arrive with other refugees and migrants near Athens in October. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

The Liberal government is extending its deadline to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by two months, setting the end of February 2016 as a new target date.

While unveiling details of the massive resettlement program today, the government said it will identify all 25,000 selected refugees by Dec. 31, 2015, but only 10,000 will arrive by year's end

"They will include a mix of privately sponsored and government assisted refugees," said Health Minister Jane Philpott in Ottawa on Tuesday.

"The remaining 15,000 — mostly government-assisted refugees — it is our goal that they be resettled in Canada in January and February of 2016."

"Full medical exams and security screening will be completed overseas prior to arriving in Canada," the health minister said, adding that "further screening for communicable diseases will be done upon arrival, as is the usual process for all travellers to Canada."

Health Minister Jane Philpott, (left to right) Immigration Minister John McCallum, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, and Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announce Canada’s plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees, during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum said the extra time was needed to give host communities more time to prepare to receive the refugees.

"There are a lot of moving parts here," said McCallum, "so we are happy to take a little more time because that allows us to be more prepared … with places for them to live, more prepared to transfer them almost immediately to places where they can be in the longer term."

The military will be assisting the government here and abroad, said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

The Department of Defence will assist immigration officials with the screening and processing of refugees overseas prior to their arrival to Canada.

"More specifically, said Sajjan, "we will be assisting with medical screening and with the processing of applications including assistance with the collection of biometrics.

Sajjan said the air force is preparing to fly refugees to Canada every 48 hours.

Other highlights of the plan include:

• The Canadian Armed Forces are preparing to temporarily lodge some refugees. About 6,000 temporary beds will be available.
• There are 36 identified "destination" cities; 12 in Quebec and 23 in the rest of Canada.
• Refugees will include complete families, women at risk, gays and lesbians, and single men identified as vulnerable due to membership in the LGBT community or those who are accompanying parents as part of a family.
• Applicants must be registered with the UN Refugee Agency or the government of Turkey.
• Transportation will be largely by privately chartered aircraft with military aircraft assisting if necessary.

Thousands of applicants now being processed for privately sponsored refugees will be included as part of that commitment, but they are in addition to the 3,089 Syrians who have already arrived in Canada between Jan. 1, 2014, and Nov. 3, 2015.

Resettlement and integration supports will cost an estimated $678 million over six years.

Syrians will be coming to Canada from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

 

 McCallum says Liberals didn't break promise on refugees

Tories take credit for 'head start' 

The year-end deadline was an election campaign promise from the Liberal Party, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under pressure to slow down the process to allow time for proper screening.

The Opposition Conservatives welcomed Trudeau's decision to slow the pace of resettlement and took some credit for initiating the flow of Syrian refugees that will arrive here by year's end.

"Approximately 10,000 refugees had either been processed or were in the final stages of processing. That work gives the current government a tremendous head start in aiding Syrian refugees," said immigration critic Michelle Rempel, following the government's announcement.

Government officials told reporters in a briefing today that the bulk of the 10,000 refugees set to arrive here by year's end will be privately sponsored.

Rempel said the Conservatives would push the government for answers on a number of issues including "plans for caring for the refugees upon arrival and, specifically, the real costs of the plan, impacts on provincial governments, and the involvement of the Canadian Armed Forces."

"It's one thing to inspire Canadians, it's another thing to be accountable to them," said Rempel. "I think it's more than a smile, it's more than hope and it's more than unicorns. You need to have plan and that's what we'll be holding the government to account on."

Rempel said the Conservatives would also continue to call on the Liberals not to pull out of the air campaign in the U.S.-led mission against ISIS.

Justin Trudeau justifies refugee delay, saying Liberals want to 'get it right

'This is a whole of Canada effort,' Canadian prime minister tells CBC News

CBC News Posted: Nov 24, 2015 3:28 PM ET, Last Updated: Nov 24, 2015 7:26 PM ET, Source

CBC exclusive: Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government won't fulfil its campaign pledge to bring 25,000 refugees to Canada by the end of the year, but justified the delay by saying it is more important to "get it right."

"We looked at the logistics, we looked at what it would take to bring them in by Jan. 1, and we had options around that," he told Metro Morning host Matt Galloway during a one on one interview in Ottawa earlier today

"We realized that we wanted to make sure it was done absolutely right to ensure that Canadians who have been incredibly open and enthusiastic about it remain as positive about welcoming these families as they possibly could be."

But Trudeau's enthusiasm for bringing Syrians displaced by conflict to Canada has not abated, and will take place in 2016.

Trudeau said welcoming refugees is a positive thing for the country.

"This is not just about welcoming 25,000 Syrian refugees, this is about welcoming 25,000 new Canadians," he said.

 

 Justin Trudeau: 'Doing the security screening overseas, allows Canadians to be more re-assured.

He talked about giving the Syrian newcomers pathways to success in Canada, saying it isn't about simply bringing them to the country but helping them integrate with society.

"This is not about government signing a paper and bringing over refugees, this is a whole of Canada effort," he said.

'Not about security'

Despite Trudeau repeating his pledge to bring more refugees to Canada throughout the federal election campaign, some polls show a majority of Canadians do not agree with his refugee resettlement plan.

Though he said he doesn't put a lot of stock in polls, the prime minister said Canadians want to see their government as a "positive actor" on the world stage.

"This is not about security. The security is an issue we've dealt with," he said.

"This is about welcoming people who are fleeing terrorism, not bringing terrorism with them."

The Liberals have put in place a security screening program that begins overseas. Trudeau said this will allow Candians to be more reassured that refugees are not a threat.

"We want these families arriving to be welcomed, not feared," said Trudeau.

 

 Justin Trudeau revises timeline to resettle 25,000 refugees by year end

Paris attacks not a factor

The ISIS-affiliated gunmen who killed 130 people in the French capital on Nov. 13, Trudeau insisted, did not influence his decision to delay the resettlement process.

He did say that the "law of large numbers" dictates that there will be some newcomers that will be "problematic," but not to the point that Canada would send them back into a war zone.

He said the Paris attacks did affect the public psyche. Trudeau also acknowledged that in the U.S., among the public and state governors, there is a strong opposition to bringing in Syrian refugees.

"I was aware that there might be concerns when I sat down with President [Barack] Obama last week. On the contrary, he was effusive in his support of what we're doing," said Trudeau.

"He has pointed out there is more of a security risk from tourists than refugees."

Future Canadians

The government-sponsored resettlement program will initially not include unaccompanied or single adult males. Trudeau said this was a matter of the program being an "accelerated process."

He said the most vulnerable will be accepted first, and families and children fit into that group. Other groups with demonstrated vulnerabilities in the region are members of the LGBT communities in Syria, he said.

But that isn't final.

Trudeau said risk profiles come into play but screeners overseas can make judgements, and "anyone who comes up with a slightly more complex profile will simply get deferred to future consideration," he said.

 

 Justin Trudeau: 'It's an important step, but not the only thing Canada is going to be doing.'

Trudeau said he had a conversation in cabinet recently when he and several ministers pointed to Maryam Monsef, the minister of democratic institutions, who came to Canada from Afghanistan when she was 10.

"Right now there's a 10-year-old girl in a Syrian camp somewhere, and she can aspire that in 30 or 20 years she might be sitting around the cabinet table helping run an extraordinary country like Canada," he said.

Trudeau agreed the refugee resettlement program is a nation-building process.

"This is the story of this country," he said.

Resettlement specifics

During a background briefing with reporters, government officials said the extra time was needed to give host communities more time to prepare to receive the refugees.

Other highlights of the plan include:

• While the Canadian Armed Forces are preparing to lodge some refugees, officials said that is a backup plan. About 6,000 temporary beds will be available.
• There are 36 identified "destination" cities; 12 in Quebec and 23 in the rest of Canada.
• Refugees will include complete families, women at risk, gays and lesbians, and single men identified as vulnerable due to membership in the LGBT community or those who are accompanying parents as part of a family.
• Refugees will be screened through identity and document verification, biometric and biographic collection and health screening. Identity will be verified before departure from the region and upon arrival in Canada.
• Applicants must be registered with the UN Refugee Agency or the government of Turkey.
• Transportation will be largely by privately chartered aircraft with military aircraft assisting if necessary.

I hope very, very soon. A few hard core should also slip through for my sake.