The federal government will allow Turkish and Syrian residents to extend their stays in Canada after last month’s deadly earthquake while giving priority to their visa applications, Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser said on Saturday.

More than 50,000 people were killed and millions more lost their homes after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake followed by numerous and powerful aftershocks that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6.

Mr Fraser announced that from March 29, Turkish and Syrian nationals can continue to study, work or visit family by applying for a free extension of their status. He added that the ministry will give priority to new and existing applications for temporary residency and permanent residency from the affected regions.

“For those who apply for temporary residency visas, we can process their applications as a matter of priority,” he said. Special measures will be put in place in our system to provide guidance to our agents and facilitate the approval of their paperwork for entry into Canada.”

Because some permanent resident applicants lost their travel documents due to the earthquakes, Ottawa is also waiving the requirement to hold a passport or travel document to be approved for a permanent resident visa in Canada.

“We are also allowing Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Turkey and Syria to return to Canada by waiving fees for temporary, limited-validity, or emergency travel documents, as well as Canadian citizenship certificates and travel documents for permanent residents,” it said in an article statement released on Saturday.

The minister said the government had learned from its efforts to take in people fleeing Ukraine after last year’s Russian invasion. The government has provided temporary shelter to a large number of Ukrainian nationals much faster through regular refugee resettlement programs, he said.

“We are using a new strategy to facilitate the arrival of people in this situation who would not normally be allowed into Canada,” Fraser said. The specific mechanism we use involves the use of advanced analytics within the IRCC system to identify people affected by the earthquake and make a positive decision on eligibility for an entire pool of applicants at once.

These measures apply until September 25th.

According to the government, as of March 10, about 600 Syrians and 6,400 Turks had temporary resident status. This expires within six months.

Last month, Canada announced an additional $20 million in aid to support a range of vital humanitarian activities. Additionally, $10 million in donations to the Humanitarian Coalition and its members will be matched.

According to the government, as of Feb. 8, there were nearly 16,000 Canadian visa applicants from Turkey and Syria, including about 1,700 applicants living in the earthquake-hit region.

Marwa Khobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation, emphasized that new government measures to support those affected by the earthquake are a start, but there is still work to be done to support the survivors.

According to the United Nations, before the earthquake, about 6.9 million people were internally displaced within Syria and more than 6.8 million Syrians have been displaced since 2011, including 3.6 million in Turkey.

“Not everyone is aware of the challenges Syria is facing due to the pre-earthquake crisis,” Ms. Khobieh said.

” Above all [les gens] They come from north-west Syria and don’t even have a government to represent them. How should they apply? »

Measures considered insufficient

Khobieh said it’s important the government continues to work with community organizations to find solutions to the logistical challenges that may be preventing many people from applying to enter Canada.

Sima Acan, President of the Federation of Canadian-Turkish Associations, said the government’s response to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria had been slow and the new government measures were not enough to support Canadians who wanted to bring their relatives.

“Nothing was discussed about that [la suppression] Processing fees for new applicants in the region. Nothing was discussed about reducing bureaucracy [exigences] for new applicants,” she said.

“I hope they improve the system, but at the moment it doesn’t seem to be as mature as it should be. »

Ms Acan clarified that new applicants are required to provide their biometrics in order for the government to process their visa applications, but many people in Turkey and Syria cannot go to a Canadian visa office to give their fingerprints and pictures.

“We have proposed setting up a mobile biometrics center in south-eastern Turkey so that people from northern Syria can also move to apply,” she said. They have mobile units to perform biometrics and may be able to move these units to places where people are comfortable. »

Minister Fraser said he expected biometrics to be the “biggest logistical challenge” for those wishing to apply to enter Canada from areas affected by the earthquake.

“People need to go to a place where we can offer biometric appointments,” he said. We can be flexible and move some of our mobile biometric units. We’re ready to think about it. »

Ozgure Sekar wants his sister and brother to accompany him to Canada after an earthquake destroyed their homes in southern Turkey last month.

The Toronto man traveled to quake-hit areas to support family and friends in the city of Antakya, Turkey, before returning to Canada earlier this week.

He reported that his sister lost several family members, including their 12-year-old son. Her brother, who lived in the family home with his mother, wife and four children, lost his home and job.

“The whole city is destroyed. Thousands of people died. “It’s a very bad situation,” Mr. Sekar said in an interview.

“People sleep in tents. Nobody stays in a house. All houses are destroyed. No power. Water is scarcely available. People are mentally shocked and cry. »

Sekar expects the government to make it easier for Canadians with their loved ones affected by the earthquake to apply to enter Canada.

“There is no way to stay there. Cities took five to six years to rebuild, he said. The best opportunity is to bring [ma soeur et mon frère] here for a few years. Stay with me. Mentally they will be better. »

To see in the video