Canada's response to refugee crises today a stark contrast t

[Oscar]

Canada's response to refugee crises today a stark contrast to past efforts

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e26223762/ ]

Sean Fine The Globe and Mail Published Thursday, Sep. 03, 2015 11:00PM EDT Last updated Friday, Sep. 04, 2015 8:25AM EDT

- -

“We never lose with refugees. Refugees arrive with no place to go but up.” - Mike Molloy, Canadian official (PC Joe Clark government) who oversaw the airlifting Vietnamese boat people, 1979

- -

The Syrian refugee crisis has exposed a wall of bureaucratic hurdles in Canada’s renowned refugee-sponsorship system that did not exist during previous crises, when the country brought in huge airlifts of desperate people.

- - - SNIP - - -

Decades before the current crisis, Canada airlifted 5,000 people from Kosovo in the late 1990s, 5,000 from Uganda in 1972, and 60,000 Vietnamese in 1979-80. From January, 2014, to late last month, Canada resettled 2,374 Syrian refugees.

Mike Molloy was the Canadian government official who oversaw the airlifting of the Vietnamese boat people and removed bureaucratic obstacles. “The motto out there was not ‘do the thing right,’ it was ‘do the right thing,’” the 71-year-old, who lives in Ottawa, said in an interview.

The approach was spearheaded at first by Joe Clark’s Progressive Conservative government in 1979.

“The goal was initially to move 50,000 people in 18 months,” Mr. Molloy said. That became 60,000 in two years under Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1980. The government offered to match all private sponsorships, galvanizing the public. It was the formal launch of a system that involved communities in guaranteeing the care, shelter and early costs of refugees. That system has since brought in more than 200,000 refugees.

MORE:

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e26223762/ ]

[Oscar]

Green Party Calls on the Government to Use Military Transport to Bring Syrian Refugees to Canada

[ http://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-relea ... n-refugees ]

September 05, 2015

(OTTAWA) - The Green Party of Canada is calling on Stephen Harper to utilize the Canadian Armed Forces to help bring Syrian refugees to Canada by the most efficient means possible, whether that is transport planes or ships.

“Using our Armed Forces in a humanitarian crisis of this proportion is justified when you consider that we do not hesitate in the case of natural disasters,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, (Saanich - Gulf Islands).

“In the past, we have opened our arms to bring 50 000 boat people, 37 000 Hungarians, and 11 000 Czechs to Canada. Canadian hearts are as big as this country. We are ready to step up again,” said Elizabeth May.

The Green Party of Canada also supports the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada, who called Thursday for Syrians with family in Canada to be allowed entry immediately to complete their processing in safety.

“We ask for special measures, like temporary resident permits, so refugee cases are treated with the urgency they deserve,” said May.

“We also need to overhaul the Harper-created laws around treatment of refugees - this is entirely possible while maintaining high security in screening; we must find the political will to make this happen.”

“With the scale of the crisis, Canada should be ramping up the number of Syrian refugees to 40 000 over the next 5 years. It's clear that we must do more to end the conflict, including living up to our commitments to the UN High Commission for Refugees,” concluded May. -30-

For additional information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Julian Morelli
Director of Communications
Green Party of Canada
cell: (613) 614 4916
office: (613) 562 4916 (224)
julian.morelli@greenparty.ca

Or

Kirsten Strom
Executive Assistant to Director of Communications
t: 613.562.4916 (200)
Toll Free 1.866.868.3447
kirsten.strom@greenparty.ca