Janet Dench

Masouma Tajik fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan in August, leaving her life and family behind at only 22 years old, carrying just one backpack. Last week, she left the new life she had built for herself over the past six months in Ukraine with only that same backpack in hand.

Canada's decision to welcome an unlimited number of Ukrainians to Canada on a temporary basis marks a positive and hopefully permanent change to the way the country handles major crises around the world, the Canadian Council for Refugees says.

The treatment of migrants has recently been thrust into the spotlight as accounts emerge of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in American border detention facilities.

The arm's-length agency that processes refugee claims says asylum seekers who cross into Canada today will have to wait almost two years before learning whether they can stay.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's attempt to defend a controversial policy which seeks to end birthright citizenship isn't sitting well with refugee advocates who say the policy could lead to stateless children.