The Trudeau government has opened two gateways to welcome Ukrainians who would like to flee their country at war. The first is to grant them authorization to make an emergency trip to Canada. The other aims to speed up the process of family reunification which can lead to obtaining permanent residence.
In the first case, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, announced the establishment of a special program that responds to the specific situation of Ukrainian nationals. They are not strictly speaking refugees, since it is believed that most Ukrainians who are welcomed will not want to settle permanently and immigrate to Canada. More than 2 million Ukrainians went to neighboring countries, mainly Poland, but also Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia, with the hope of returning to their country as soon as the Russian invaders left, when the situation will return to normal, if ever it returns to normal…
Once in Canada, these nationals will have an open work or study permit in their pocket; they will be able to stay for up to two years on Canadian soil. They will be able to count on a well-established Ukrainian diaspora in the country: in all, 1.4 million Canadians are of Ukrainian origin, and it was at the end of the 19and century that the first settlers began to populate the Prairies. This shows the importance of the historical ties that unite the Ukrainian people with their host country.
The Canada-Ukraine emergency travel authorization is subject to a simplified procedure compared to the usual visa. However, Ottawa does not renounce any form of control, including background checks and security screening. The Minister assured that applicants will only have to fill out a simple form and provide biometric data. But the visa requirement remains, which the Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers and the three opposition parties deplore. Ottawa is concerned that individuals allied with Russia who fought Ukrainian forces in the separatist regions of Donbass could sneak in. These precautions are justified; we must know who we welcome.
What is not is the negligence of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), aggravated by the silences of Global Affairs Canada. The virtuous political commitments are thwarted by a bureaucracy overwhelmed by events, which multiplies the failures and betrays, once again, its limits. This is illustrated by a report, published Tuesday in our pages, relating the setbacks of a Canadian citizen, Luc Chénier, who was unable to return to the country with his Ukrainian wife more than two weeks after filing an application for supposedly simplified visa.
The Trudeau government has not set a limit on the number of nationals that the country could welcome, but, for the time being, it does not expect a large influx of Ukrainians. The hope of these poor people is that the Russian aggression will end soon. But who knows how the situation will evolve, who knows if this aggression will not be followed by an occupation marked by fierce repression. It is not impossible that many of these displaced people will become refugees who will not be able to see their homeland again.
The Ukrainian applicants are not the only ones to suffer from the disorganization of the Canadian authorities. During the election campaign, Justin Trudeau promised to increase the number of Afghan refugees received in Canada from 20,000 to 40,000. It is a commitment that his government is failing to keep. Last week, The duty reported that only 7,885 Afghans arrived in the country. On his side, The Globe and Mail told the story of these Afghan refugees who, on their way to Canada, had the misfortune to end up in Ukraine, from where they no longer manage to leave. Thus, Jawed Haqmal, with the 12 members of his extended family, has been waiting since the end of August for IRCC to process their asylum applications. This man worked as a translator for the Canadian army in Afghanistan. His life was in danger in his country and it still is under the Russian bombs. He and his family have gone from the terror of the Taliban to the perils of a war zone.
The Trudeau government often indulges in good feelings. However, noble intentions, if they are not supported by an organization capable of acting with diligence and speed, arouse false hopes in people who, otherwise, have every reason to despair.