National

Overseas Operations Shrinking For Syrian Refugee Resettlement As Deadline Nears

The Canadian Press, 24 Feb, 2016 10:54 AM

OTTAWA — Overseas operations launched last year as part of the Liberal government's Syrian refugee resettlement program are winding down as the deadline nears for the resettlement of 25,000 people.

The government's processing centre in Turkey has closed, one in Lebanon closes this week and the one in Jordan is not far behind as officials expect 25,000 Syrians to be in Canada by the end of this month.

But the Immigration Department has not yet told the Canadian military to stand down on its efforts here to be ready to potentially house thousands of those refugees while they await permanent housing.

Officials say that while they don't anticipate needing to use the two bases currently on standby, there's still the possibility they will be called on in the coming days.

The Liberals rolled out a program last fall to resettle 25,000 Syrians by Feb. 29; about 23,000 had landed as of late Tuesday.

The biggest challenge so far has been finding them all permanent housing — so far, just over half of those who have arrived have found homes.

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