Refugee crisis prompts calls for action

Canada needs to act decisively to bring in more Syrian refugees by makingthe application process more efficient, says a Syrian refugee who came to Vancouver last year.

MajdAgha, a college student who was one of the first to come to Canada as a refugee in 2014, said the image of a Syrian toddler's body washed up on a Turkish beach is "heartbreaking" but not uncommon.

"If the whole world is going to wake up for this photo, then let me tell you, there [are] 1,000 incidents happening with the same photo every day," he said, referring to the photograph of three-year-old Alan Kurdi.

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Since it was discovered that the aunt of the toddlerhad been trying to bring the family of the toddler to Canada, many others have been calling on the Canadian government to resettle more Syrian Refugees

Tima Kurdi,who lives inCoquitlam, B.C., said that while she had been desperately trying to bring the toddler's family to Canada, no formal application to sponsor them as refugees was made on their behalf, as had previously been reported.

Barriers to sponsoring refugees

Canada has committed to accepting 11,300 refugees by 2017.

It's taken this horrible tragedy to galvanize the public. But if we have the will, we can change this.- Zool Suleman

Many of those are expected to be settled through private sponsorship, using the "group of five" process that allows five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor a refugee.

But ZoolSuleman, an immigration lawyer based in Vancouver, sayschanges that the federal government made a few years ago have made it more challenging for private sponsors.

"In 2012 the government of Canada at that time which is the current government until parliament was prorogued in fact made it increasingly difficult for private sponsors and groups of five to bring refugees to Canada," he said.

Agha, whosays he has yet to meet another Syrian refugee in Canada,said it is imperative thatthe application process for refugees ismade more efficient.

"What we can do is speed up this process and bring them to safe countries as soon as possible, so these people don't have to take these horrible trips to reach Europe or any other safe place."

More than just numbers

Following the outcry about the toddler and his family,Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said that, if elected, his government would take in 25,000 Syrian refugees.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair said that Canada should take in 10,000 immediately.

Sulemansaid "one-upping the amount of numbers" ofrefugees is not a solution.

"What is really going to need to happen is the Canadian public needs to make clear to the leadership of the government that, if they actually want to go and actually save lives, there are ways to do this. Canada has done this before.They can do it again," said Suleman, who came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda in 1972.

"It's taken this horrible tragedy to galvanize the public. But if we have the will, we can change this," hesaid.

As forthose who might criticize the family of the toddler for having takenthe risk to cross the waters to Turkey as opposed to following immigration and refugeeprotocols Suleman said theirargument misses the point.

"There's always this mythology that there's a line somewhere, where you stand in line, and eventually you come to the front of the line," he said.

"What's the proper process when your country disintegrates? [And] three to four million of you run away with the clothes on your back?I can say to you that in 1972 when I came as a refugee from Uganda...my country blew up in the sense that civil society disintegrated, and Canada made herculean efforts to be there."

"The capacity is there."

To hear the full interview with Zool Suleman, click on the audio labelled: Immigration lawyers discuss Syrian refugee crisis

To hear the full interview with Majd Agha, listen to the audio labelled:Local Syrian refugee says government not doing enough to help crisis.