(Toronto) The federal government will allow Turkish and Syrian temporary residents to extend their stay in Canada after last month’s deadly earthquake while prioritizing their visa applications, Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser said Saturday.
Posted 2:40pm Updated 7:04pm
More than 50,000 people were killed and millions more lost their homes after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake followed by numerous and powerful aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria on February 6.
Mr Fraser announced that from March 29, Turkish and Syrian nationals can continue to study, work or visit family by applying for a free extension of their status.
He added that the ministry will prioritize new and existing temporary residency applications and permanent residency applications from affected regions.
“For those applying for temporary residency visas, we can process their applications as a matter of priority,” he said. Specific measures are in place within our system to provide guidance to our agents to facilitate the approval of their files to allow them to come to Canada.”
Because some permanent resident applicants have lost their travel documents due to the earthquakes, Ottawa will also waive the requirement to hold a passport or travel document to obtain a permanent resident visa in Canada.
“We also permit Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Turkey and Syria to return to Canada by waiving the fees for temporary passports, limited-validity passports, or emergency travel documents, as well as these Canadian citizenship certificates and permanent resident travel documents,” read a Statement released on Saturday.
The minister said the government had learned from its efforts to take in people who fled Ukraine after last year’s Russian invasion. The government has offered temporary protection to large numbers of Ukrainian nationals much more quickly through regular refugee resettlement programs, he said.
“We are using a new strategy to facilitate the arrival of people in this situation who would not normally be allowed to come to Canada,” Fraser said. The specific mechanism we use involves using advanced analytics within the IRCC system to identify individuals impacted by the earthquake and make a positive eligibility decision on an entire pool of applicants at once.
These measures apply until September 25th.
According to the government, as of March 10, about 600 Syrians and 6,400 Turks had temporary resident status. This expires within six months.
Last month, Canada announced an additional $20 million in aid to support a range of vital humanitarian activities. It will also pay an amount equal to 10 million in donations to the Humanitarian Coalition and its members.
According to the government, as of Feb. 8, there were nearly 16,000 Canadian visa applicants from Turkey and Syria, including about 1,700 applicants living in the earthquake-hit area.
Marwa Khobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation, stressed that new government measures to support earthquake victims are a start, but there is still work to be done to support survivors.
Some 6.9 million people were displaced within Syria before the earthquake, and more than 6.8 million Syrians have had to flee their country since 2011, including 3.6 million from Turkey, according to the United Nations.
“Not everyone is aware of the challenges Syria is facing due to the pre-earthquake crisis,” Ms. Khobieh said.
“Especially (the people) from north-west Syria, they don’t even have a government that would represent them, how are they supposed to apply? »
Khobieh said it’s important the government continues to work with community organizations to find solutions to the logistical challenges that may be preventing many people from applying to Canada.
Sima Acan, president of the Federation of Canadian-Turkish Associations, said the government’s response to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria has been slow and new government measures are not enough to support Canadians who want to come to their relatives.
“There was no discussion about (the elimination of) processing fees for new applicants from the region. Nothing was discussed about easing the paperwork (requirements) for new applicants,” she claimed.
“I hope they improve the system, but at the moment it doesn’t seem to be as mature as it should be. »
Ms Acan clarified that new applicants must provide their biometrics in order for the government to process their visa applications, but many people in Turkey and Syria cannot go to a Canadian visa office to give their fingerprints and their pictures.
“We have proposed setting up a mobile biometrics center in south-eastern Turkey so that people from northern Syria can also move to apply,” she said. They have mobile units to perform biometrics and they may have the ability to move those units to where people are comfortable. »
Minister Fraser said he expected biometrics to be the “biggest logistical challenge” for those wishing to apply to get into Canada from areas hit by the earthquake.
“People need to go to a place where we can offer biometric appointments,” he said. We can be flexible and move some of the mobile biometric units that we have. We’re ready to think about it. »
Ozgure Sekar wants to bring his sister and brother to Canada after an earthquake destroyed their homes in southern Turkey last month.
The Toronto man traveled to quake-damaged areas to support family and friends in the city of Antakya, Turkey, before returning to Canada earlier this week.
He reported that his sister lost several family members, including their 12-year-old son. Her brother, who lived in the family home with his mother, wife and four children, lost his home and job.
“The whole city is destroyed. Thousands of people died. It’s a very bad situation,” Mr. Sekar said in an interview.
“People stay in tents. Nobody stays in a house. All houses are destroyed. No power. There is hardly any water. People are in mental shock and crying. »
Sekar expects the government to make it easier for Canadians with loved ones affected by the earthquake to apply to enter Canada.
“There is no way to stay there. Cities take five to six years to rebuild, he said. The best opportunity is to bring (my sister and brother) here for a few years. Stay with me. Mentally they will be better. »