Canada to resettle 1,000 Afghan refugees waiting in Abu Dhabi

Canada will accept 1,000 of the 5,000 Afghan refugees who spent last year at a facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, awaiting resettlement in a third county. Canada agreed to a U.S. demand to resettle Afghans who fled their country of birth when the Taliban took over after the U.S. pulled out of the country, Reuters reported over the weekend, citing seven unnamed sources. This is the first time Afghans in an Emirati facility have been placed in a country with which they have no direct connection. Ottawa will also host 500 Afghan refugees with Canadian ties. The UAE agreed to a U.S. request to temporarily house thousands of Afghans evacuated last year when the U.S. withdrawal ends. Last year, more than 10,000 people were transferred to the United States and other countries with which they had ties. Those relationships included working with their government in Afghanistan to ask them not to fear for their own lives over threats of retaliation from the Taliban. About 1,000 refugees in the UAE center are ineligible for resettlement in the United States. At least 40,000 Afghan refugees will be resettled in Canada by 2024, with more than 17,650 currently resettled. Last year, the United States resettled about 85,000 Afghans.