Is Justin Trudeau’s Promise Of Settling 25,000 Syrian Refugees By End Of 2015 Achievable?

During the recent Canadian election campaign, Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau made an ambitious promise that his Liberal government would settle 25,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees by the end of 2015. So, will he be able to fulfill this promise? Should he even try?

According to CTV, Justin Trudeau’s yet-to-be-sworn-in government has already begun discussions with 50 representatives of refugee aid groups to discuss the logistics of such a project. One of those people Justin Trudeau’s government reached out to over the Syrian refugee crisis was Chris Friesen, president of Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance, who is quoted by the CBC expressing his concerns.

“Providing more time for this large resettlement movement will lead to better resettlement outcomes. Reconsider the time frame, keep the number but let’s do it over 2016 to the end of 2016. Twenty-five thousand over two months is problematic.”

Even if Canada and Trudeau is unable to reach its goal by the end of the year, a revised goal of December, 2016, aligns with the target set out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, according to Friesen. Some of the issues facing aid groups, refugees coming to Canada, and Justin Trudeau’s government would be finding adequate housing and being able to offer proper health care services to newcomers. As it is, according to Friesen, there are wait-lists of up to 10 months in some Canadian cities for language classes. It is also estimated that two-thirds of the Syrian and Iraqi refugees will require mental health support.

Despite the concerns of refugee organizations, Justin Trudeau (who will be officially sworn in as Prime Minister next week) is still saying publically that he plans to achieve his election promise of bringing 25,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees to Canada by the end of the year, just over two months from now, as he confirmed in an interview with CTV.

“I know this is a surprise to certain people within the political universe, but the commitments I made in that platform, I’m going to keep … We put that platform together not because we thought it would help us get elected, but because we knew that these were things that Canada needed to do to succeed as a country, and for Canadians to have the success that we deserve.”

His communications director, Kate Purchase, also made it clear in an email that Justin Trudeau’s government is determined to realize its election promise to refugees, despite warnings and concerns expressed by aid organizations.

The plan is to use Canadian military and private planes to transport Syrian and Iraqi refugees from camps and centers in the Middle East. As the Toronto Star points out, in the 1970s, Canada made a massive effort to settle refugees when 60,000 migrants fleeing the war in Vietnam were brought by boat to the country. That project was done over the course of 18-months, with 3,400 refugees processed per month. Trudeau’s plan will be much more intense, with 3 times the number of refugees processed per month (the 2 months left in the year to fulfill the promise). The question is, what will happen to all of the refugees once they arrive in Canada?

Although there has been doubt about the ability of Justin Trudeau’s government to settle Syrian and Iraqi refugees, he has received praise for at least having the conviction to bring in that number of refugees he has promised, even if Trudeau isn’t able to bring them all in by the end of the year. Refugee supporters had been frustrated with how the outgoing Conservative government under Stephen Harper dragged their feet on the issue and only resettled 2,300 Syrian and Iraqi refugees since 2013.

At the moment, the United Nations says that there are over 4 million refugees registered, so even 25,000 refugees is just a drop in the bucket, but many Canadian’s and aid groups feel that least Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is committed to trying to get Canada to do its part for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

[Featured image by Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images]