The Canadian Jewish Congress sent a congratulatory message yesterday to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau for his decision, announced last Friday, to aid Asians facing expulsion from Uganda by accepting 300-500 of them into Canada.
Trudeau stated that Ugandan President Idi Amin’s order “would appear to be contrary to his country’s obligation under the United Nations Charter and Declaration of Human Rights as well as against the principle of the Commonwealth Declaration of 1971, in which member States reiterated their belief in human dignity and non-racialism.”
The CJC called Trudeau’s decision “courageous and timely action in the aid of victims of discrimination,” declaring that “this prompt humanitarian act designed to ameliorate the suffering of innocent people touches the heart of the Jewish community.”
Sydney Maislin, president of the Canadian B’nai B’rith, sent a telegram to Trudeau supporting his position in accepting expelled Asians, whom he called “helpless and tragic victims of Idi Amin’s economic and racial war.” Canada’s policy, he said, is “ethically consistent” with the country’s humanitarianism “and serves as an example to the world and to all the Commonwealth nations.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
