Prime Minister says Canada welcomes refugees

Risingbd Desk: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will welcome refugees rejected by President Donald Trump.

 

Trudeau also plans to discuss the success of Canada's refugee policy with Trump.

 

Trudeau reacted to Trump's visa ban for people from certain Muslim-majority countries by tweeting, "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. #WelcomeToCanada."

 

Trump signed an executive order on Friday that he billed as a necessary step to stop "radical Islamic terrorists" from coming to the U.S. A 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen and a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program was also issued.

 

Trudeau posted a picture on Twitter where he is greeting a Syrian child back in 2015 at the Toronto airport.

 

Trudeau oversaw the arrival of over 39,000 Syrian refugees soon after he was elected.

 

"The Prime Minister is looking forward to discussing the successes of Canada's immigration and refugee policy with the President when they next speak," spokeswoman for Trudeau, Kate Purchase said.

 

Toronto Mayor John Tory weighed in, calling the city the most diverse in the world. "We understand that as Canadians we are almost all immigrants, and that no one should be excluded on the basis of their ethnicity or nationality," Tory said in a statement.

 

Trump's order singled out Syrians for the most aggressive ban, ordering that anyone from that country, including those fleeing civil war, are indefinitely blocked from coming to the United States.

 

"We have been assured that Canadian citizens traveling on Canadian passports will be dealt with in the usual process," Purchase said.

 

Earlier the U.S. State Department said that Canadians with dual citizenship from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Libya would be denied entry for the next three months.

 

Trudeau also posted a statement on Twitter with the hashtag, "ACanadianIsACanadian."

 

Source: Agencies

 

risingbd/DHAKA/Jan 29, 2017/Amirul