At a time when Canadians are about to play host to 25,000 Syrian refugees at a cost of $678 million, Ottawa’s promise to give the United Nations some additional funding to help those left behind was never going to be a headline grabber.
Even so, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government deserves credit for digging a little deeper and giving the UN High Commissioner for Refugees another $100 million to provide shelter, food, water, health care and schooling for people affected by Syria’s civil war. The announcement this past week by international development minister Marie-Claude Bibeau brings Canada’s contribution to close to $1 billion since the crisis began.
Moreover, Ottawa will match contributions Canadians make to registered charities working in the region, through its Syria Emergency Relief Fund.
“I hope more countries will follow Canada’s example,†says Antonio Guterres, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees. There are “enormous needs†still to be met, he said.
Canadian hearts were touched by the image of little Alan Kurdi, drowned on a Turkish beach, and rightly so, He became emblematic of a war that has taken 250,000 Syrian lives, injured a million, and driven 4 million into neighbouring countries.
Asylum in Canada will help a few. But by now much of the Middle East has become a refugee camp. Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq are struggling to cope with the human tide. Turkey alone is spending at the rate of $6 billion a year to accommodate 2 million refugees. Yet despite urgent appeals, the UN and other relief agencies are hard-pressed to meet the need.
The $7.4 billion U.S. the UN and agencies needed this year to cope with the emergency has failed to materialize. Less than half has been received, according to the UN’s financial tracking system. That’s a $3.8-billion shortfall, and it is hobbling not only the UN but also agencies such as World Vision, Save the Children, UNICEF and Caritas, among others.
As winter closes in, and temperatures dip into the single digits, the refugees will be cold, hungry and prey to disease. Recently the World Food Program was forced to cut back on food vouchers. That and other cuts left mothers giving up meals to feed their kids, refugees begging in the streets and kids being pulled out of school. In desperation, people are fleeing to Europe, fuelling a crisis there. But many more are stuck, facing another winter of privation.
Apart from setting a generous example, the federal government has built up enough moral credibility on the Syrian file to call out other nations that could be doing more. That includes China, Russia, Poland, Australia, France, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. None has risen to the challenge, UN data suggest.
As it finds its diplomatic feet the Trudeau government should also lend Canada’s active voice to efforts by the Americans, Europeans and others to broker an end to Syria’s multiple wars. Millions yearn to return home. But first the killing must end.
thestar.com
