OTTAWA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Canada will take an additional
10,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria over the next four years if
the Conservative government is re-elected in October, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper pledged on Monday.
Canada has already settled roughly 20,000 Iraqi refugees and
2,500 Syrians, he told reporters at a campaign event in Toronto.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada website shows it
finalized 19,900 refugee claims from all countries in 2014.
Harper said, however, that the scale of the humanitarian
crisis was such that it cannot come close to being solved by
refugee policy alone.
"We must stop ISIS," he said, referring to the Islamic State
militant group operating in the area.
The comments come a day after Harper said he would make it a
criminal offence for Canadians to travel to areas controlled by
groups designated as terrorist entities, such as Islamic State,
if he is re-elected.
Canada is part of a U.S.-led coalition conducting air
strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq since last
year.
Most polls show the ruling Conservatives slightly trailing
the official opposition New Democrats ahead of the Oct. 19
election. The Liberal party is in third place.