UN Refugee Agency boss praises Canada’s response to Ukraine crisis

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This article was published 06/04/2022 (995 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Amid accusations of the preferential treatment Ukrainian refugees have received over others, the boss of the UN Refugee Agency is hoping for a “silver lining” in the world’s collective response to the crisis.

“A lot has been written about that the Ukrainians are European white people, so there is more empathy. I’m sure there is an element of that to this. We live in a very unequal and inequitable world. That’s a fact unfortunately and regrettably,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the Star.

“It sounds offensive to all the victims, but if you want to even call it the silver lining, I do hope that it will help us reopen the discussion on refugees and instill in public opinion a sense that refugees are people in distress that need help and they’re not people that come to abuse systems, jobs and (and threaten our) values and security.”

In a one-on-one interview during his packed five-day visit in Canada — his third trip here since taking over the helm of the UN body in 2016 — Grandi shared his views on the global response to displaced Ukrainians, especially in Europe, which quickly rolled out the welcome mat to the victims of the Russian invasion that’s now into its sixth week.

Not only is the war on Ukraine closer to home geographically and in gravity — already 4.3 million Ukrainians in exile and another seven million displaced internally, he said, its impacts and ramifications are also felt more globally in terms of food prices and supplies, energy shortages, economic sanctions and financial repercussions.

“There is no question in Europe and elsewhere, as a matter of fact, in seeing Ukrainians that flee are refugees. You know how acrimonious the debate in Europe has been (as to) who’s a refugee and who’s not. Here, everybody understands the correlation,” said Grandi.

“What I have stressed is that everybody who flees because of war has the same fear. So people who flee from Tigray or from Afghanistan or the Rohingya that flee from Myanmar, they have the same fear and we have to respect that fear and address it, no matter where you come from.”

Grandi said he’s somewhat baffled by Canadians’ criticisms over the Liberal government’s pace at resettling Afghan and Ukrainians in the country.

“This is the only country where a government that is doing a lot of the right things is blamed for not doing enough by its own public opinion. I don’t know what to say. Anybody, including Canada, can do more and can do better,” he said.

“The reality is that in the dark years that we went through, where because of the U.S. cut in their resettlement program, resettlement languished and almost disappeared from the radar screen. It was Canada that saved the day.”

Part of the purpose of Grandi’s visit to Ottawa and Toronto is to help launch the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility and introduce Canada as its inaugural chair.

The task force is mandated to develop and expand complementary pathways to permanent settlement for refugees around the world, based on their skills and regional labour shortages. The model is based on Canada’s own groundbreaking program that facilitates the immigration of skilled refugees through existing economic programs.

Despite criticisms over the ethics of resettling refugees based on skills rather than vulnerability, Grandi said the initiative complements existing refugee resettlement programs and no resettlement spots are compromised as a result.

He said he has a great deal of concern that the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine may get bogged down into a very prolonged conflict as it gets “localized, lower in intensity and less visible” and would be forgotten.

“Contrary to perception, most refugees want to go back to their homes. And I am actually quite sure that, maybe not all, but a majority of Ukrainians want to go back. Remember that the Ukrainian refugees, those 4.3 million are mostly women and children separated from the men. They probably want to reunite as soon as possible,” he noted.

“I spoke to many of them and they said, ‘We don’t want to move further because we want to see whether we can go back home.’ I told the Ukrainian government that we need to think of that as well because people going back will have big needs (in) reconstruction of homes, infrastructure, transportation, et cetera.”

While he is not sure if the Ukrainian crisis would end quickly, as it all depends on the ongoing ceasefire and peace negotiations, he does see hope in Afghanistan, saying “there is a way forward that we need a lot of patience and time and understanding and difficult discussions.”

Although the Afghan and Ukrainian refugee crises have got the most global attention lately, Grandi, who started working for the refugee agency in 1988, pointed out that there are still many refugee hot spots that call for the world’s immediate actions.

“My big concern is that Ukraine will suck up energy and resources. A big message I have had here with the (Canadian) prime minister today, at the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament is: Please don’t neglect the other crises.”

Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung