The federal government is setting aside a number of refugee applications due to unspecified “concerns,” officials said Wednesday morning.
Those cases will be put on hold until after the current surge of refugees have been processed and the applicant can be interviewed again.
The government officials, speaking on background, emphasized that the delayed applications did not necessarily represent security concerns. They added that setting the applications aside does not mean the refugees will be barred from coming to Canada eventually. They could not provide a number for how many second-interview recommendations have been made.
The next flight of refugees will be traveling from Beirut and arriving in Toronto Friday, Dec. 18, Immigration Minister John McCallum announced at a press conference Wednesday morning.
WATCH: Next flight of refugees arriving Friday: McCallum
McCallum said details will be provided Thursday about the number of refugees on the flight and a schedule of upcoming refugee flights will be released early next week.
He described the arrival of refugees as a “wave” that has been building and said that the number of flights will be increasing in the last two weeks of the year, perhaps averaging two flights per day. The remainder of the flights will likely be chartered, which have a larger capacity than the military planes used for the first two flights of refugees.
The government officials at the briefing said they are still optimistic about bringing in 10,000 refugees before the end of the year.
So far:
- 1,160 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since Nov. 4.
- 68 communities across the country are preparing to welcome privately sponsored Syrian refugees (not including Quebec).
- Three government-organized flights have arrived in Canada.
- 1,570 refugees have had their applications finalized and are waiting to travel to Canada (as of Dec. 14).
- 15,779 refugee applications are currently being processed (as of Dec. 14).
More statistics can be found at the Government of Canada’s #WelcomeRefugees website.
READ MORE: Federal government formally drops lawsuit over refugee health care cuts
McCallum said the government has dealt with the issues of security interview processes, medical examinations, and ensuring aircraft availability, but there are still factors outside of its control. The first is the exit permit process from Lebanon. Secondly, he explained, refugees may need a little more time to prepare for coming to Canada.
“If you’re a Syrian family, and you’re told on December 28 that your processing has been complete and you’re welcome to come to Canada, you may not want to go on the twenty-ninth or the thirtieth or the thirty-first,” McCallum said.
“You may want to say goodbye to family and friends, you may have some assets you want to sell. This is the very human element.”
But there is no issue of not having enough refugees wanting to come to Canada, McCallum said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the Canadian government that 10,000 refugees who originally said they would not be interested in coming to Canada have re-contacted their organization to express interest.
McCallum said he thinks that word is traveling back overseas about the welcome that refugees arriving at Canadian airports have already received.
“I was really struck in Montreal to see all the public servants working so hard,” he said. “Everyone in the room was super excited … For people who work in immigration, it really goes to the core of their job to welcome people to Canada.”
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