Backgrounder - Selected paragraphs extracted from Vis-à-Vis (Summer/Fall 1999 – CIC Magazine)

The story of this emergency humanitarian evacuation began when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) asked a number of countries to provide safe haven for the Kosovar refugees after an estimated 350,000 had fled Kosovo in 11 days. Canada responded immediately with an offer to evacuate 5,000 people.

Several federal departments took part in Operation Parasol and the provincial governments agreed to take in their share of refugees. Non-governmental organizations, which have long assisted refugees, played a crucial role in the process.

On April 30, 1999, the UNHCR asked Canada, the United States and Australia to evacuate refugees. Canada immediately confirmed its readiness to receive the first refugees within three days of the request.

On May 4, the first evacuation flight arrived at the Canadian Forces base in Trenton. In all, 21 flights brought refugees to Canada on an almost daily basis, alternating between CFB Trenton, in Ontario, and CFB Greenwood, in Nova Scotia. When the refugees on the last flight stepped onto Canadian soil in Trenton on May 26, Canada had already exceeded its original commitment to the emergency evacuation, having accepted 5,051 refugees. In addition, over 2,000 refugees were admitted to Canada under the Family Reunification and Special Needs programs, which remained in effect after the evacuation.

The Kosovar refugees were bused to sustainment sites at other military bases. From Trenton, they were taken to Kingston and Borden, and from Greenwood, they went to Aldershot and Halifax in Nova Scotia, and to Gagetown in New Brunswick.

Following the June 10, 1999, peace agreement, thousands of Kosovars began to return home. The first repatriation flights left Canada on July 7. Approximately 4,800 Kosovar refugees who came to Canada as part of Operation Parasol chose to stay.