Canada to take in 5,000 refugees from Turkey<

Today's Zaman
Published: January 16, 2013

Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, who paid a visit to Syrians living in refugee camps in Turkey on Monday, has stated that his country would resettle up to 5,000 refugees currently living in Turkey by 2018.

Kenney visited a container city in the town of Öncüpınar in Kilis province as well as a tent city in the İslahiye district of Gaziantep in southern Turkey.

Kenney is in Turkey to hold meetings with state and humanitarian organization representatives, including those from the Turkish Red Crescent and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with whom he will be discussing the plight of displaced Syrians and Canada's role in providing humanitarian assistance.

“With escalating violence in the region, more people are seeking protection in Turkey, and our commitment to resettle 5,000 mostly Iraqi and Iranian refugees in Canada will help Turkey deal with this growing pressure,” said Minister Kenney said on Tuesday.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, Kennedy stated that Canada's acceptance of Iranian and Iraqi refugees will help ease the overall burden on Turkey, freeing up resources for the current influx of Syrians seeking protection in the country. Canada will continue to work with the UNHCR to help it address the needs of refugees and other vulnerable persons in Turkey, added the statement.

“We recognize that sheltering such an immense refugee population creates pressures on domestic resources and we commend the Turkish government for keeping her borders open to those fleeing the ongoing conflict in the region,” Kenney said.

Canada is one of only a few countries to operate a resettlement program out of Turkey, and only the United States takes more refugees.

“Canada has long been a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution, and we are proud to continue this tradition today,” said Kenney.

The statement added that, to date, some 12,000 Iraqi refugees have been resettled in Canada, mostly out of Syria. “Canada remains committed to its 2009 and 2010 pledges to resettle up to 20,000 Iraqi refugees in need of protection. Today's commitment will help bring us closer to that goal and will also mark the first time we make a specific multi-year commitment to resettling refugees out of Turkey,” said the statement.