Most sexual or gender minority refugees resettled to Canada are Government Sponsored. Only a small number of those resettled to Canada are privately sponsored such as those affiliated with ROW.
Opportunities for LGBT refugee resettlement are diminishing. There will be no increase in government sponsorships in 2018 and only a small increase in the following two years. This is happening at the same time that the US government will resettle less than half the number of refugees in 2018 than it had in the past.
Most Canadian private sponsorships are for refugees who are family. LGBT people don’t generally have family in Canada that wants to resettle them.
The number of private sponsorships is double that of government sponsorships, saving the government money, but not addressing the underlying need for an adequate and sustained humanitarian response to the largest refugee crisis in history.
The opportunities for LGBT refugees to be resettled to a safe country are diminishing. This underscores the importance of advocacy to increase government sponsorship. This situation also makes it obvious that the few private sponsorships that do occur, such as those connected to ROW are critically important.
For more details see Refugee levels disappoint advocates as UNHCR makes passionate appeal
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