Migrants and Refugees

February 23, 2018

About 45,000 privately sponsored refugees backlogged

Syrian refugees wait at the border near Royashed, Jordan, in 2016. Canada has a backlog of up to 45,000 privately-sponsored refugees waiting to gain entry.

As they wait to learn about 2018 quotas, sponsoring agencies are set to welcome 18,000 refugees this year, including many who have waited for years to finally start a new life in Canada.

Published in Canada

February 23, 2018

Refugee, migrant children should not be detained like criminals, U.N. speakers say

Two young girls watch a World Cup soccer match on a television from a holding area where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Ariz., June 18, 2014.

UNITED NATIONS – Migration is not a crime and vulnerable migrant and refugee children should not be detained as if they were criminals, speakers said at a U.N. program Feb. 21.

Published in International

January 19, 2018

Church celebrates ‘blessings’ of refugees

Hundreds gathered in Toronto Jan. 14 for a Mass to mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. They heard Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick, top left, praise the growing relationship between Catholics and refugees in the archdiocese.

The enduring and growing relationship between Toronto’s Catholics and refugees has created a “rich mix of people” in the city’s churches, says Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick.

Published in Canada