Monday was the final day for Canadians to donate money to overseas relief efforts for Syrian refugees in order for the funds to be matched by the federal government. But the money donated by Canadians fell short of the maximum $100 million which the government promised to match.
The UNICEF, World Vision and the Red Cross have so far received $16 million in donations as of yesterday. Other organizations have not yet released their figures, according to a report by the Canadian Press.
The Syrian fund was launched by the Conservative government in late September last year. In order to collect more donations, the deadline was extended by Liberals. As much as $12 million was raised at the time of the extension.
Since January 2012, Canada has committed $653.5 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis. Previously, the government had only used matching funds in response to natural disasters.
The civil war in Syria has been going on for five years now.
It is estimated that some 11 million Syrians have been killed or forced to leave their homes due to the war.
The United Nations has registered more than 4.7 million Syrian as refugees in countries in the region. Hundreds of thousands more have fled to European Union nations and other countries.
Since, November last year, there are now some 28,400 Syrian refugees who have either arrived in Canada or whose applications have been completed but have not yet reached the country, according to the government.
