UN asks Canada to take in more Syrian refugees

The United Nations refugee agency is knocking on doors looking for countries to take in some of the more than 100,000 people displaced by the war in Syria. Today they were knocking on Canada’s door, meeting with the immigration minister and asking the country to open its doors.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 162,000 people have been killed in the conflict and thousand more have fled the country, many of them seeking refuge with their Neighbours in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The UN says at least a quarter of the population of Lebanon is from Syria, but it’s not prepared for the influx. Today Antonio Guterras, the high commissioner for refugees for the UN, asked Canada and other countries to take more of them in.

The Canadian government had already agreed to take in 1,300 refugees but Ottawa is far from meeting that goal. Guterras says more needs to be done to lessen the burden on Syria’s neighbours. He is waiting on a decision from Canada.