The Canadian Government announced, in 2013, reiterating this in January, 2015, that Canada would take in 11,300 Syrian refugees. In the past three years, only 2,374 refugees have been settled in Canada and all but 622 (26%) of these have been sponsored and supported, not by Government but by persons, churches, or other groups. Our history affirms that fears of accepting massive numbers of refugees have been unfounded. We can mobilize resources quickly to care for a huge influx of refugees and these people become productive citizens who enrich rather than destroy our culture. When Russia’s invasion of Hungary caused an enormous humanitarian crisis in 1957, the Canadian Government did little to help, fearing that immigrants with different ethnicity, religion, and possibly political extremism would create problems. Public outrage and shame forced the Government to act and 37,000 refugees were admitted. The Vietnamese war created another crisis; the Canadian Government, fearfully accepted few of the refugees who were escaping from a violent regime in contrast to the100, 000 refugees admitted to the US. Again in 1979, publicity about a small boat overcrowded with 2,500 refugees drifting in the sea while being refused entry to country after country led to action and the Conservative Government raised the quota of Vietnamese refugees from 5,000 to 60,000.
Germany has stated that it will accept 800,000 refugees and has urged other European nations to do their part. Prime Minister Harper has pledged that the Conservative Government will accept an additional 10,000 refugees over the next four years. Surely as Canadians we can do better. Provinces and cities across Canada have urged the Government to accelerate the rate of accepting refugees. The Ontario Minister of Health, Eric Hoskins has urged that Canada eliminate the long delay caused by the onerous requirement that applicants to Canada must be certified as refugees by the United Nations. Many religious and private groups have mobilized to sponsor refugees. There will always be xenophobic fears of being overwhelmed by accepting huge numbers of new members who “are not like us”. Yet our Country is based on immigration and the hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, Irish famines, poverty stricken countries and totalitarian regimes have proven to be a blessing.
Above all, we share a common humanity and we are indeed “our brother’s keeper. We are called upon to act rather than to merely hope someone else will look after people who arrive by boat, train, bus, etc. in countries other than Canada. Some of us can participate in sponsoring or helping new refuges. And all of us can join the leaders across Canada who demand that the Conservative Government accept far more refugees, expedite the application process, and provide for the expeditious processing and integration of refugees admitted to Canada.
Pat McKeon CSJ