Wednesday’s developments on Syrian refugee resettlement, at a glance

OTTAWA – A look at developments Wednesday on the effort to resettle of Syrian refugees in Canada and around the world:

First charter flights set to arrive

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in the House of Commons that the first flight of Syrian refugees would arrive Thursday evening in Toronto, followed by a second planeload on Saturday in Montreal. While Syrian refugees have been arriving in small batches for months, the two flights represent the long-awaited beginning of the government’s program to airlift 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February.

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More funding for local groups

Across Canada, there are 36 cities where organizations have formal agreements in place with the federal government to help resettle refugees. They received a funding boost Wednesday — $3.6 million to ensure they’ll be able to help thousands of refugees acclimate themselves to Canada. The government says that over the next four years, a total of $335 million will be used for settlement and resettlement services, both in Canada and abroad, in stages as the needs of Syrian refugees arise. Approximately $94.5 million of that money will be used to provide income support to refugees.

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Updated statistics on resettlement

The government released updated data on the program, current to Dec. 7. Since Nov. 4, 416 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada. Not including Quebec, 69 communities across Canada are preparing to welcome privately sponsored Syrian refugees. There are currently 11,932 refugee resettlement applications in progress and 1,451 permanent resident visas to come to Canada have been issued but refugee has not yet arrived. Overseas, 59,201 text messages have been sent by the UN to potential applicants to see if they are interested in coming to Canada.

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Refugees stuck on Jordanian/Syrian border

Jordan disputed a United Nations report that said thousands of Syrian refugees have amassed in a remote desert area on the kingdom’s border, waiting to be let in. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani said “the number is exaggerated,” but did not give an alternative figure. The UN refugee agency says the number of refugees stranded on the border tripled to 12,000 since November because of intensifying fighting in Syria. It has appealed to Jordan to allow them to enter, saying lives are at risk.

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