Group calls for streamlined refugee process in Canada

Significant, both substantively and in the wide range of people with different partisan affiliations involved. Will see what the Harper government comes up with to respond to these calls for a more compassionate approach:

A committee of prominent Canadians that includes Louise Arbour and Ed Broadbent is calling for an urgent, de-politicized response to the Syrian refugee crisis that would see Canada push for a ceasefire in Syria, cut its immigration red tape and send visa officers into the field to speed refugee processing.

The group, chaired by former immigration minister Ron Atkey, aims to provide the non-partisan advice that could enable Canada to more quickly welcome large numbers of Syrians displaced by civil war. Its stated aim is to admit “as many Syrians as possible as quickly as possible.” It also calls for Canada to step up its diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire by convening an international peace conference that would work toward an enduring solution in the region.

“It’s a cri-de-coeur that’s coming out from many parts of the country,” Ms. Arbour said. The former United Nations human-rights commissioner and chief prosecutor at the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, said she’s not rosy-eyed about the prospect of a diplomatic solution to the Syrian civil war, but said Canada should lend its voice to the effort.

Mr. Atkey, who oversaw immigration at the time of the Vietnamese crisis of 1979 when Canada welcomed 60,000 refugees, said Canada should take immediate action to put visa officers into the field to evaluate and process refugee applications. It also needs to streamline its refugee process, he said, to give Syrians access to visas that would allow them to travel more quickly, rather than being stuck in a process that can take years to complete. Canada has responded quickly to previous crises, such as the exodus from Kosovo in 1999, he said.

Source: Group calls for streamlined refugee process in Canada – The Globe and Mail