Canadian Armed Forces members will travel to Poland to assist with the flood of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Global News has confirmed.
Defence Minister Anita Anand is scheduled to announce the assistance Thursday morning, according to three sources. The move to assist Polish authorities with the resettlement of refugees was first reported by the Canadian Press.
CP reported the troops will deploy from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, and that a reconnaissance team traveled to Poland last week to plan the mission.
According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 2.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine to Poland since Russia launched its invasion in late February — by far the largest number of refugees being sheltered by Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.
The Canadian government announced last week that it was committing an additional $100 million in humanitarian support to Ukraine, on top of $145 million already pledged the U.N., the Red Cross Movement and other non-government organizations.
Ottawa has also prioritized immigration requests from Ukrainians, and created a new program to allow Ukrainian citizens to work or study in Canada for up to three years. Canadian Forces members are also expected to help Ukrainians leave Poland to resettle in other countries.
The Canadian Armed Forces previously had 260 military trainers in Poland after they were evacuated from Ukraine shortly before Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24.
The trainers provided some humanitarian assistance during the early weeks of the conflict but have since been relocated back to Canada on what the military says is a temporary basis.
Since the war started, Canada has provided millions of dollars in loans to the Ukrainian government along with military weapons and equipment for its military.
It has also sanctioned hundreds of Russian political and business leaders, and called for the International Criminal Court to investigate the country for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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