After cheers rang out in Damascus this weekend at the toppling of brutal Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, there came another sound: that of countries slamming the door on Syrian refugees. On Monday, 15 European nations declared that they would no longer grant them asylum. Some, like Austria, are discussing deportations; German politicians are suggesting that the country charter aircraft and offer financial incentives for people to leave. The United Kingdom has similarly put on a pause on asylum claims from Syrian refugees.
The revocation of refugee status had already been in discussion among EU nations prior to Assad’s ouster. Over the 13 years of Syria’s civil war, Germany took in a million Syrians, as well as refugees from Afghanistan and other war-torn nations: it has since experienced a rise in gang crime, which politicians ascribe to illegal migration. In Sweden and Denmark, Iranian gangs infamously recruited children to commit murders. Anti-immigrant sentiment is at an all-time high in Europe, and the welcome mat has been withdrawn.
But it’s not just a one-sided move. Around the world, many Syrian refugees have declared publicly that they want to return home. From London to Beirut, expatriates have been voicing their joy at the possibility of going back to the country they never really wanted to leave. Three million Syrian refugees fled to Turkey; some are already starting to travel back, and it is estimated that half will go home — something that Ankara is not unhappy about.
And then there’s Canada. On Tuesday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that Ottawa will continue to process Syrian refugee claims but will “monitor” the situation. “We don’t face that flow in Canada, I don’t know what rank they (Syrian refugees) occupy in terms of source countries for asylum seekers, but it’s pretty low,” Miller said. Canada has just shy of 1,600 pending refugee claims from Syria as of Sept. 30, while Germany has over 47,000.
The government’s response is predictable — and misguided. Canada took in 45,000 Syrian refugees between 2015 and 2020. The influx was highly politicized: in the 2015 election campaign, the image of Syrian refugee child Aylan Kurdi dead on a Turkish beach broke the internet and the hearts of Canadian voters. The Liberals accused Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper of dragging his feet on additional refugee admissions and promised to bring in 25,000. Following his election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a great show of greeting Syrian refugees at airports — and spending a lot of money to support them.
To date, Canada has spent $1 billion on humanitarian support for Syria, on top of the supports we provided government-sponsored refugees in Canada. Private Canadian sponsors also opened their hearts and homes to the newcomers, raising funds to give 18,000 a new life here, which wasn’t easy. Syrians had a tougher time than other communities: many spoke neither English or French and had difficulty finding housing for large families.
In short, we’ve done a lot. But Canada should now follow the lead of our European counterparts and end refugee applications from Syria. It’s not just about people who are already here, but there is concern that supporters of the Assad regime, including “terrorist fighters,” could now seek to escape. And while Syria’s transitional government, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, promises to treat minorities humanely, it could provoke another wave of refugees — at a time where Canada is already bracing for a tsunami of illegal migrants from the U.S., and our government is already preparing to spend a billion dollars to secure our borders.
Canada is a humanitarian country, but we must ask ourselves hard questions — and make some hard decisions — about our refugee policy. We must ensure that we act humanely, but also respect the interests of our own citizens, and our ability to provide social services for both newcomers and citizens alike. And we also need to avoid politicizing the issue, as this government has done in the past — and as Canada cannot afford to do in the future.
Postmedia Network
Tasha Kheiriddin is Postmedia’s national politics columnist.