#RefugeesWelcome responds to Emergency Relief Fund announcement on Syria

Toronto, Vancouver — Organizers of #RefugeesWelcome respond to the the $100 million emergency matching fund announcement.

“This fund would not have saved Alan, Ghalib and Rehaana’s lives – what we need is to immediately bring refugees and migrants to Canada,” says Tings Chak of No One Is Illegal – Toronto

According to Harsha Walia of No One Is Illegal-Vancouver “This emergency relief fund is a band aid solution. The federal government needs to implement emergency measures, as it has done in the past, to immediately welcome Syrian refugees as well as re-unite family members from Syria.

More importantly, the refugee crisis highlights how this government needs to completely overhaul our exclusionary immigration and refugee system so that all refugees and migrants can arrive and remain in safety.

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#RefugeesWelcome is also calling for the $100 million dollar emergency relief fund be redirected from the $500 million being spent on military intervention in Syria. Walia further adds “We must put an immediate end to Canada’s role in creating an unprecedented crisis of refugees and
displaced peoples. We must resolve the refugee crisis because we have a hand in worsening it.”

Refugees Welome actions have taken place in over 30 communities during the past week including in Antigonish, Ajax, Calgary, Charlottetown, Dauphin, Edmonton, Fredericton, Hamilton, Halifax, Inuvik, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, St. Catharines, St John’s, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg.

Further responses including educational forums and actions are being called across the country to be coordinated through a website expected to launch Monday at www.refugeeswelcome.ca.