Canada must change federal visa policy to expedite entry of Ukrainian refugees, according to new report.
According to a study from the University of Calgary School of Public Policy released Thursday, compared to other countries, Canada has received millions of dollars since Russia invaded. The number of Ukrainians in people is said to be small. Eastern European country in February.
“Ukrainian applications have begun to far exceed the number allowed by the Canadian government, and we do not even have a clear picture of how many Ukrainians are entering the country. hmm,” says author Robert. falconer.
Statistics show that the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization (CUAET) program to quickly obtain visas and temporary residence permits for Ukrainians and their families is insufficient, he said.
As of June 22, there were approximately 190,000 Ukrainians applying to enter Canada, up from 140,000 about a month ago.
Falconer said the program, which requires immigrants to obtain visas, is the reason Canada lags behind other countries. Most notably Ireland has exempted visa requirements.
"One of his objections within a parliamentary committee was that if Ukrainians were included, Russian spies would use it to infiltrate the system," he said. said.
"Russian espionage does exist, but refugee channels are one of the most inefficient ways to get Russian spies into the country."
} Falconer said that with the right resources, federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies can manage the security risks associated with visa processing. He recommends that Canada adopt the Irish model or adopt another option of doing visa checks on people once they arrive. So I think they are doing what many countries are doing, called the on-arrival model, where when you arrive at the airport you have to wait, a short period of time where government officials are performing security checks." said Falconer.
"We could do some risk assessment and scrutinize an 8-year-old who is probably not a Russian spy, but an unaccompanied man in his mid-twenties...does a background check." Let them get to a safe place first and then let them handle it from there." He said that our country has the highest percentage of people of Ukrainian descent after Ukraine and Russia.
According to the report, Canada and the United Kingdom have adopted similar processes for accepting Ukrainian refugees, with comparable numbers.
According to it, the number of Ukrainian refugees per capita who arrived in Ireland in his first two months of the invasion was about 13 times higher than in Britain.
Falconer said the report's findings would be forwarded to the federal government, but it was unclear whether that would lead to any relaxation of requirements.
" I think they're probably aware, I think they're very, very, very concerned, more about how the overall immigration file is going in general than the Ukrainians is important.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on August 11, 2022
