November 10-17 is the week of action for the Proud to Protect Refugees campaign, a time to celebrate the contributions of refugees in Canada and to highlight harmful policy changes.
The following are excerpts from my column this week in the Western Catholic Reporter.
Closing Doors
In December 2011, Jason Kenney, then minister of citizenship and immigration, pledged to increase the number of refugees by 20 per cent.
However, the government actually decreased the number it resettled by 26 per cent. Only 5,412 government-assisted refugees arrived in our country in 2012, the second lowest number in any one year over the last three decades.
According to Loly Rico, president of the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) and director of the Faithful Companions of Jesus Refugee Centre in Toronto, “The government has been closing the door on refugees.”
Last month’s Speech from the Throne rather ominously boasted that the federal government had already “deported more than 100,000 illegal immigrants” and would move to “introduce a new model to select immigrants based on the skills Canadian employers need” (my emphasis). Yet, the number of migrant workers in Canada has increased by 70 per cent in the last five years.
Are refugees and migrants now nothing more than economic commodities for Canada?
Chemical Warfare
The ferocious violence in Syria has even seen the government unleash chemical warfare against civilians. Many people of faith joined in a day of fasting and prayer for peace on Sept. 7, and heaved sighs of relief when the war was not escalated by Western military strikes.
However, some 2.1 million Syrians are registered as refugees, with 97 per cent of them living in poor conditions in five neighbouring countries.
Last July, Canada announced a commitment to resettle 1,300 Syrians by the end of 2014. (In comparison, Germany agreed to take 5,000, and since 2012, Sweden has taken 14,700.) But of the 1,300 refugees, the Canadian government will only sponsor 200, leaving private agencies and churches to do the heavy lifting on their commitment.
Furthermore, there are huge delays that obstruct the efforts of Church groups to sponsor refugees, with the government itself saying the processing times in their Amman, Jordan office reach 21 months and rise to 40 months in their Cairo office in Egypt.
Also, as the CCR reminds us, the 2012 cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program mean that privately-sponsored refugees no longer have coverage for some medical expenses, such as prosthetics or expensive medications. This causes some groups to hesitate on sponsoring because there’s too much risk of unanticipated expenses.
Only nine Syrians were resettled by the government in the first eight months of 2013.
Churches’ Plea
In September, the Canadian Council of Churches asked the federal government to “expedite a process that allows more sponsored Syrian refugees to apply for protection in Canada.” In addition, they asked for increased public funding for practical and basic assistance to refugees upon their arrival.
Amnesty International has also demanded that Canada adopt five policy changes to significantly increase the number of government-sponsored refugees from Syria and to expedite family sponsorships.
It’s not too late for you or your church to get involved in the Proud to Protect Refugees week of action. Here are three practical ways to participate:
- Use social media to help shift the narrative about refugees in Canada. Use #ProudToProtectRefugees and check out the great tweets and images on CCR’s action page.
- Check out the CCR’s new faith-groups toolkit to plan an event or worship service that highlights the state of refugees and refugee policy in Canada.
For more ways to engage, as well as more articles and religious reflections on this timely issue, visit our Take Action: Proud to Protect Refugees page.
