Moderator Lansdowne Urges Government to Address Lack of Housing for Refugees

The Right Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, Moderator of The United Church of Canada, has written to the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, urging a more proactive response to the lack of housing for refugee claimants.

This is not only a challenge in Toronto, where the government fails to address the crisis at 129 Peter St., Moderator Lansdowne wrote; this situation will continue to expand across the country if there is not a more robust strategy for providing asylum seekers and refugees with a safe and soft place to land. While the current crisis in Toronto particularly impacts Black African refugees, this is not a single-issue affecting people of one identity group.

The current crisis also affects LGBTQIA+ people fleeing persecution, as well as people of many diverse identity groups. African and refugee organizations are providing as much amazing leadership and support as they can, but the federal government and other levels of government must join them and fulfill our obligations under international human rights law.

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Image credit: Courtesy of Jennifer Henry