Military bases may serve as refugee camps

‘All options are on the table,’ immigration minister says for housing 25,000 migrants

OTTAWA— The Liberal government is considering using military bases to temporarily house some of the 25,000 Syrian refugees they promised to bring to Canada by the end of the year.

In an interview with CBC Friday evening, new Immigration and Refugees Minister John McCallum didn’t rule out either the scale or the possibility of using bases to house the refugees. “Right now, I think all options are on the table,” McCallum said. “Certainly military bases are a possibility, other accommodation as well . . . I’m telling you, we are working around the clock, and we’re not at a point yet where we have determined precisely the modalities.”

Le Devoir newspaper reported Friday that the Liberals are considering bringing in as many as 6,000 refugees per week and housing them on Canadian Armed Forces bases.

On Wednesday, McCallum told reporters that the end of year target remains the government’s “firm objective,” despite some concerns about the rapid pace.

“I will be getting briefed intensely on this, and we will be reaching out to provincial governments, to NGOs, to international organizations,” McCallum said.

“I think we will find a great desire across the country to help us achieve this objective, and I can tell you this remains our objective.”

The Liberals refused to discuss their plans on Friday, dismissing Le Devoir report as “rumours.”

The Syrian refugee crisis, the largest mass displacement since the Second World War, became a major factor in the recent federal election. The former Conservative government, despite commitments to resettle more refugees than they had in previous years, came under intense pressure to bring in more people fleeing the Assad regime and the socalled Islamic State.

Faisal Alazem, a spokesperson for the Syrian Canadian Council, said it’s important to move quickly with winter coming.

“From our side, we applaud the government . . . to get these people out and fast,” Alazem said Friday.

“(Bringing in) 6,000 a week to be able to attain the 25,000 makes sense, this is the only way to be able to meet that number by the end of December.”

But Alazem said he does not believe the government would face too much blowback if they fail to meet their target in two months.

“As long as the process is starting and we’re seeing that people are starting to come in and are being integrated, if the timeline is not met or there is a delay of a couple of weeks or even a couple of months, I doubt that you will see a lot of people that are angry,” Alazem said.

The Liberals also pledged to increase funding for refugee processing and resettlement by $200 million over 2015 and 2016, as well as an additional $100 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to support relief efforts.