Canada opens humanitarian pathway for family members fleeing Sudan conflict

Children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings of Canadian citizens or permanent residents will be eligible for the new program, the government announced.

Canada will allow people in Sudan who have relatives in Canada to reunite with their families through a new humanitarian pathway as the violent conflict in the African nation continues, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Thursday.

Miller said in a statement that children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings of Canadian citizens or permanent residents will be eligible for the new program. That Canadian family connection must be able to financially support their relative arriving from Sudan “and help them build their new life in Canada,” the statement said.

“This humanitarian pathway will help reunite loved ones and save lives,” Miller said.

Applicants must also complete the typical security and biometric screening used for visa applicants, such as fingerprinting.

Sudan has been mired in a bloody conflict since mid-April, when tensions between the head of the military and a rival paramilitary force erupted and sparked intense firefights, mostly in the capital of Khartoum.

The conflict has killed up to 9,000 people as of October, according to the United Nations. However, activists and doctors’ groups say the real toll is far higher.

The UN says 5.5 million people inside the country have been displaced since the fighting began — including refugees from other countries that had been living in Sudan — and about half the population of 49 million people is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The past month has seen the fighting reach the province of Jazeera, where the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says about 500,000 people fled for safety at the start of the conflict.