Canada Announces Refugee Stream for Human Rights Defenders

In a virtual news conference, federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announces a dedicated refugee stream for human rights defenders who are at risk of persecution in their home country, with a focus on journalists, women and LGBTQ2 advocates. Canada will resettle up to 250 human rights defenders per year, including their family members. The minister is joined by Andrew Anderson (executive director, Front Line Defenders), Gerald Staberock (chair of the board, ProtectDefenders.eu.), Rema Jamous Imseis (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Canada), Kimahli Powell (executive director, Rainbow Railroad), and Peter Showler (chair, PEN Canada's writers in peril committee). Mendicino also faces questions about the timeline when Canada will finalize its plan that will allow Afghan interpreters who worked for the Canadian Armed Forces during the Afghanistan war to come to Canada with their families. (July 16, 2021)