Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Diane Finley recently announced that Canada will be doubling the number of Iraqi refugees it accepts for this year. The target is between 1,800 and 2,000, which is up from 900 in 2007. Most refugees will be resettled from Syria and Jordan, where many Iraqis have fled.

"This year, we are responding to the situation in Iraq by significantly increasing the number of Iraqi refugees we accept," stated Minister Finley. "Consistent with Canada's longstanding tradition of providing protection to refugees most in need, we will continue to monitor this situation and explore options to further meet resettlement needs with respect to Iraqis."

Canada's resettlement targets for the Middle East region in 2008 have increased by 54 per cent over last year to 3,300. With this commitment, CIC has allocated nearly a third of its global resettlement places to Iraqi and other refugees displaced by the war. This builds on CIC's commitment in 2007 to help reunite families in Canada affected by the situation in Iraq by fast-tracking the process of family sponsorship for Canadian residents with close family members in Iraq.

Canada annually resettles 10,000 to 12,000 refugees from 70 different nationalities. This amounts to approximately one of every ten refugees resettled globally.