Canada welcomes first flight of refugees sponsored by private groups

Canada held its first flight on Thursday afternoon with about 250 Afghan refugees sponsored by private groups.

The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada explains that these refugee groups are primarily made up of vulnerable individuals such as “women leaders, human rights defenders, members of oppressed minorities, LGBT community people and journalists.”

Many of them are said to have “served for Canada during and after our military mission,” which ended abruptly last August after nearly twenty years of expansion.

They landed at Pearson Airport in Toronto.

Two week quarantine‌

They are kept on quarantine for two weeks “with the support of their private sponsors”.

Refugees come to the country through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees program, through which groups of citizens finance their resettlement by purchasing basic necessities.

“While we welcome Afghan refugees, we need private sponsors to help newcomers who are harming their new communities. I look forward to welcoming many newcomers in the coming weeks and months, ”Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in a statement.

The target is 40,000

When the government of Justin Trudeau set a target of 40,000, it increased the number of refugees entering the country to nearly 4,000. The groups involved in refugee sponsorship are most often faith groups, “ethnic cultural associations” or community organizations. These groups can select individuals they want to sponsor from lists of people previously certified by the federal government.