Ottawa, August 14, 2021 (AFP) – The Canadian government announced on Friday that it was prepared to welcome 20,000 Afghan refugees, as part of a new immigration program, promoted due to the “growing humanitarian crisis in the region”.
“The situation in Afghanistan is grim and Canada will not stand idly by,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino said during the presentation of the program, aimed at “particularly vulnerable people”, such as women leaders, human rights defenders, persecuted religious minorities, journalists and members of the LGBTQI community.
A Canadian Forces flight touched down in Toronto on Friday afternoon with “a group of Afghan citizens” who have helped the country in the past, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said.
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that with his allies, it is closely monitoring the situation of Canadians in Afghanistan.
Earlier today, countries like Spain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands announced the withdrawal of employees from their respective embassies. Foreign Minister Marc Garneau tweeted that Canada owes “a debt to the Afghans” and that the country will continue to strive for their security.
have / tube / relay / dga / yo / lb
“Amateur web enthusiast. Award-winning creator. Extreme music expert. Wannabe analyst. Organizer. Hipster-friendly tv scholar. Twitter guru.”