Subscribe to RSS Feed
441-00017 (Citizenship and immigration)
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED
We, the undersigned, permanent residents and citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following:
WHEREAS:
The growing crisis in Plateau State and North Central Nigeria has already generated several hundred thousand internal refugees;
Canada made it a priority to resettle 10,000 Kosovo and Bosnian refugees, and 60,000 Indochinese refugees in their respective times of crisis;
Canada made it a priority to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees; and
Citizenship and Immigration Canada says that Canada traditionally welcomes one out of every 10 resettled refugees worldwide.
Therefore we, the undersigned, permanent residents and citizens of Canada, request the House of Commons to offer resettlement to 10,000 refugees from North Central Nigeria under an accelerated program.
Response by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): The Honourable Sean Fraser
The world is facing a refugee crisis and Canada will continue to do its part, as a global leader in refugee resettlement.
Despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic, in 2020 Canada welcome roughly a third of all refugees resettled around the world.
Canada has a long-standing humanitarian tradition of resettling refugees. The department has made a multi-year commitment for the 2022 and 2023 period to resettle a minimum of 10,000 refugees from Africa as government assisted refugees. In addition to this multi-year commitment, Canada will be resettling additional refugees from Africa through the privately sponsored refugee program. Displacement is a global concern, and IRCC is both aware and sympathetic to the scope and scale of the issue. As reported in the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Report for 2020, conflict, violence and disasters continue to uproot millions of people from their homes every year. There were 55 million internally displaced people across the world at the end of 2020, 48 million as a result of conflict and violence, and 7 million as a result of disasters[1].
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)[2] has noted that there are over 300,000 registered Nigerian refugees, and 2.1 million Nigerians displaced within Nigeria. A refugee, in accordance with the 1951 Convention, is a person who has fled their country of persecution, and it is from this population that Canada relies on referrals from the UNHCR to identify individuals who are the most vulnerable and in need of resettlement, in addition to those selected by private sponsors in Canada.
Canada is a world leader on the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, which includes creating complementary pathways to resettlement. Through programs like the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, Canada continues to explore how complementary pathways can increase the number of vulnerable people we provide protection to each year.
The Government of Canada spent $13,000,000 on humanitarian assistance in Nigeria[3] in 2019-20 (predominantly on material relief and emergency food aid) and continues to monitor the situation in Nigeria on an ongoing basis, and the plight of individuals who may be at risk of harm.
[1]https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2021/
[2]https://www.unhcr.org/nigeria-emergency.html
[3]https://www.international.gc.ca/transparency-transparence/international-assistance-report-stat-rapport-aide-internationale/2019-2020.aspx?lang=eng#a2_2_2
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Pat Kelly
(Calgary Rocky Ridge)
November 29, 2021 (Petition No. 441-00017) - Government response tabled
- January 31, 2022
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.