SYRIANS DEEMED LOW RISK.
TORONTO • An intelligence report by Canada’s immigration enforcement branch found little evidence of security concerns about Syrians, contrary to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to ban citizens of the country.
“Syrian refugees represent a relatively low security threat,” the report concluded. “The majority of fleeing Syrians are women and children, with men between the ages of 18 and 59 making up 22 per cent of that population.”
A declassified version of the Canada Border Services Agency report, titled “Potential National Security Concerns with Syrian Nationals,” was obtained by the National Post under the Access to Information Act.
Syria is among the seven countries whose citizens Trump has banned from entering the United States. A federal judge has blocked the travel ban and an appeals court on Thursday upheld the stay.
But Canada’s experience suggests the concerns may be misplaced: Less than five of the 40,000 Syrians who arrived during the first 14 months of the Liberal government’s resettlement plan have been referred for deportation proceedings, officials said.
Even before the current influx, Syrian refugees were deemed a minimal risk by the CBSA’s Intelligence Operation and Analysis Division, which looked into the issue in December 2015 after the Liberals took office.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had promised to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada within months, prompting the CBSA to prepare a study for senior executives.
“The government of Canada has promised to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, with a further 15,000 to arrive by the end of February 2016. This has raised national security concerns,” the report said.
The CBSA’s examination of deportation proceedings dating back to January 2010 found only a handful involving the 11,654 Syrian nationals who had entered Canada as temporary residents, immigrants and refugees.
The majority of Syrian nationals with inadmissibility reports (the first step to deportation) were criminals. Eighteen had been convicted of crimes punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment. The most common offences were fraud, theft, robbery and drug trafficking, the report said.
Only one was reported for reasons of security, while one was reported for war crimes. The report was heavily redacted so it was impossible to tell whether the list was complete but the CBSA found little cause for concern, rating the risk “low.”
The experience since then appears to have borne that out — although a 39-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested last weekend after several teenaged girls complained they had been sexually assaulted at the West Edmonton Mall Waterpark.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would not disclose exactly how many Syrian refugees were considered “inadmissible,” citing “privacy considerations.” But they said it was “fewer than five” and that “the issue that resulted in inadmissibility proceedings related to a loss of documents whilst in transit, rather than any security or criminal concerns.” The figures cover the period from Nov. 4, 2015 to Feb. 5, 2017.