News Release - Canada's New Government Welcomes Burmese Refugees

Ottawa, June 20, 2006 — On the occasion of World Refugee Day, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and Jahanshah Assadi, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), are pleased to announce Canada’s pivotal role in an international effort to provide solutions for Burmese (Myanmar) refugees stranded in camps in Thailand for more than a decade.

“Welcoming these refugees, who have endured a prolonged state of limbo in terrible conditions, is in the best humanitarian tradition of Canada,” said Minister Solberg. “As Canadians, we look forward to helping them rebuild secure lives and join our society.”

A group of 810 refugees, predominantly of the Karen ethnic group, are expected to resettle in Canada later this year. The 810 are from an estimated 140,000 Burmese refugees—the largest refugee population in Southeast Asia—which the UN Refugee Agency has identified as being in a particularly precarious situation.

The UNHCR has been collaborating closely with Canada and other countries to resettle groups of refugees found to be disproportionately more at risk than the general refugee population. The groups identified are those who have suffered severe persecution, including torture, imprisonment, forced labour, the burning of villages and forced relocation in their homeland.

“We were delighted at Canada’s swift response to our group submission of 810 Karen refugees, and impressed at the smooth and efficient manner in which the Canadian selection team conducted the interviews in a remote refugee camp environment,” said Jahanshah Assadi, the UNHCR’s representative in Canada.

CIC will be working closely with Canada’s volunteer groups to assist in the settlement and integration of these refugees.

Other countries that have responded to the UNHCR’s call by offering to resettle Burmese refugees include the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. World Refugee Day is internationally recognized and celebrated each year on June 20.

For more information (media only):

Lesley Harmer
Director of Communications
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
(613) 954-1064

Marina Wilson
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
(613) 941-7021

Backgrounder:

• Group resettlement to Canada: Karen refugees in Mae La Oon Camp, Thailand