Lifeline Syria-Cape Breton refugee plan unchanged
Hopes to bring 10 families to island by Christmas, undeterred by backlash following Paris attacks
Lifeline Syria-Cape Breton is working toward a goal of welcoming 100 refugees in the next few months, with the hope of bringing 10 families to Cape Breton before Christmas.
Committee co-chair Dr. Andrew Lynk said unconfirmed reports that at least one of those involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 came into France amid the flood of migrants will not deter the group.
"The few people who were involved in France recently were either citizens of France or Belgium," he said. "And the fact that one of them may have had a Syrian passport close to them, as far as I can understand, that's not been confirmed and it may have been a fraudulent passport."
Since the Paris attacks, there have been calls in Canada for the federal government to reconsider its declared intention of bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to the country by the end of the year.
Lynk said he understands: "ISIS and the terrorism that they are provoking, it's concerning to everybody, and the solution to that will be for the international community to bring peace to the Syrian area, so most of the refugees can get back to their own homes."
Lynk said all of those waiting in refugee camps have already been carefully screened for security risks and he has no concerns that they pose a threat to anybody.
Lifeline Syria-Cape Breton is working on identifying host families and securing federal funding to hire a case worker.