The Press Secretary of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has stated that a report by the Lebanon-based newspaper Al Akhbar is false, following an article by the Jerusalem Times.
The Press Secretary of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has stated that a report by the Lebanon-based newspaper Al Akhbar is false, following an article by the Jerusalem Times.
The Times’ story reports that “an official source” in one of the Palestinian factions revealed that there was an agreement between the United States and Canada for Canada "to receive 100,000 Palestinians.” The numbers would include 40,000 from Lebanon and another 60,000 from Syria.
According to The Immigration Minister's Press Secretary Mathieu Genest, this is untrue.
“Canada does not have such an agreement with the United States and there are no special programs currently being considered to resettle people from Lebanon or Syria.”
The Israel Times’ post also states that the report from the Arabic website claims “there is a further understanding with Spain to receive 16,000 Palestinians from Lebanon, alongside similar agreements with Belgium and France,” though those claims now come under serious scrutiny.
Genest goes on to say that they regularly “monitor for online misinformation and disinformation,” and that the government aims to “act quickly to provide facts” in instances such as these.
Though this report has been flagged as false, Canada does regularly aid Palestinian refugees, including the $50 million announced by Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Minister of International Development, which outlined Canada’s "support of up to $50 million over two years for Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
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