Canada Doubles Its Afghan Refugee Resettlement Target to 40,000 People
The number of #Afghans fleeing the Taliban that Canada plans to accept has been doubled to 40,000, according to #Canada’s foreign minister, fulfilling a campaign pledge made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The announcement, which came a week after Mr. Trudeau’s party was re-elected, was sure to be welcomed by #Canadian humanitarian organizations. They had pressed the government to do much more after it initially committed to taking in 20,000 refugees after the Taliban took power last month. Many Afghans have hoped to flee the country due to the Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law and repression of women, and members of Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet had stated during the campaign that they would accept more refugees than the original 20,000 figure. However, the foreign minister’s announcement Monday, while addressing the annual General Assembly at the United Nations, was the first official word of the expansion. The tripling of the #Afghan effort will put it on par with t...