Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, recently announced that 192 refugees from Afghanistan landed in Halifax, the capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, on Saturday.
These refugees arrived in Canada on a charter flight from the United Arab Emirates where they were awaiting for resettlement process.
“A charter flight with 192 Afghan Government-Assisted Refugees arrived safely in Halifax,” The Canadian Minister said in a tweet. “Welcome to Canada.”
Fraser vowed to deliver on the government’s commitment to welcoming at least 40,000 Afghanistan refugees to Canada by the end of 2023.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that more than 30,000 refugees from Afghanistan have safely resettled in Canada since the Taliban take over in August 2021 which prompted a wave of outbound migration to safer countries. Canada’s government allocated more than $80 million to fund its Afghanistan resettlement program this year.
Most of these refugees who have resettled in Canada include Afghanistan nationals who supported Canada’s mission in the country, including family members of former interpreters and privately sponsored individuals, members of marginalized groups such as disabled persons, women and girls, and LGBTIQ+ people.