Syrian refugee screening will be a challenge, but one Canada can meet

As theimmigration ministerwho brought nearly 60,000 refugees from a wartorn regioninto Canada, Ron Atkey iswell-versed in fear.

Back then in 1979 rumour had it theranks of Vietnamesemigrants were riddled with communistsplanningto exploit the generosity of gullible Westerners to establish a foothold overseas.

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A Chicago Tribune headline of the day toldthe story: "Fake Viet 'boat people' map U.S. spy network."

Fast forward 36years, and Atkey sees parallels to the current federal government's plans to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by year end.

It's easy to see whythe carnage inParis last Friday raisesconcernsabout the possibility of militants slipping through immigration security checks.But what is the alternative?

"It's a difficult choice because if you fail, it's on you," Atkey says."But if you fail to act, it's also on you. And with that goes leadership."

Fear ofany error

The Islamic State in Iraqand Syria has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, which left at least 129 people dead.

But beyond the sheer horrorof thekillings, the tragedy has heightened pre-existing questions about the feasibility and wisdom of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's deadline for bringing Syrian refugees to Canada.

The fear of making a mistake has been further ratcheted up by some evidence that a refugee claimant fingerprinted in Greece might have been one ofthe seven dead Parisassailants.

Criticsfear ISIS will use the exodus of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East as cover to plant operatives in the West.

Some, like Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, have called on Trudeau to suspend the plan.AB.C. man has started a petition calling for a referendum on the issue.

A history of screening

Fear may be understandable, but itignoresthe reality of life in the United Nations camps housing the refugees Canada plans to accept not to mentionthis country's established practice of screening migrants for connections to groups designated as terrorist.

"We have to have confidence that the immigration officials involved know what they're doing and will do the job properly," Toronto immigration lawyer LorneWaldman says.

"It may well mean that all the people may not be able to come as quickly as possible, but at the end of the day, when the people get here, Canadians should have trust that they've been properly screened and theydon't pose a threat."

Waldmansays immigration security controls have always existed, but became heightened after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings in the U.S.

Canada's screening processes have been tested in recent yearsby boatloads of migrants arriving fromSri Lanka.

Thearrival off 492 migrants offthecoast of B.C. aboardthe MV Sun Sea in 2010 led to particular challenges.In immigration proceedings, the government argued members of theTamil Tigers might be hidden among legitimate asylum seekers.

Refugee claimants were incarcerated for months while their identity was confirmed; eleven were revealed to be members of the Tigers.

Visa officers have ear to the ground

A boatload of unknown faces landing on Canadian shores is a very different situationto the thousands ofSyrian refugees Canada is expected to draw from refugeecamps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Many willhave already been cleared by the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees.

Atkeysays the first line of defence in 2015 as it was in 1979 will lie with visa officers on the ground, trained to be alive to scuttlebutt, suspicion andrumours within the camps.

Many of those refugees will have been waiting for years; their flight from Syria may well pre-date ISIS.

Waldman says immigration authorities will have developed security profiles of applicants whodemand "enhanced screening"by RCMP and CSIS.The very youngand the very elderly may beprocessed quicker, as well aswomen with children. Single men are obviously more likely to undergo heavy scrutiny.

To that end, Waldmansays thegovernment will likelyissue a mixture of permanent and temporary residence permits, becausethe security checks won't necessarily stop once applicants arrive in Canada.

Federal Court files are filled with appeals and battles between the citizenship and immigration minister and refugeesaccused of membership in groups designated as terrorist organizations. Old associations and memberships are scrutinized, as are friendships, movement and social media activity.

Not 'strategic' to pose as refugees

University of Victoriainternational security expert Scott Watsonbelieves Canada has the capacity to properly screen the Syrian refugees, but he fears resources may be strained by a decade of budget cuts.

To some degree,Watson says, you couldn't pick a worse way to infiltrate a country than arriving through a refugee camp. The wait lasts years. For some it never ends.

And the very act of declaring asylum means inviting intense scrutiny.

"We haven't had many cases of people fleeing into camps, then being resettled to undertake terrorist attacks," he says.

"It's not really a strategic use of resources to have potential fighters sitting in camps for years awaiting resettlement in the off chance they get resettled."

No one should dismiss the concerns raised by the attacksin Paris.

But history has also provided examples of what happens when Canada does nothing: from 1933 to 1945, we lagged behind the Western world in accepting Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

In 2011, Halifax commemorated a sadbut vital part of Canadian history with a monument to nearly 1,000 Jews denied entrance to Canada in 1939. They sought sanctuary aboard the ocean liner St. Louis.

Atkeyread a book about that failure of policy in 1979:None is Too Many.He says it inspired him to help the Vietnameseboat people.He recommends it to anyone currently wondering what to do about Syria.