Canada to send troops to Poland on humanitarian mission

Canadian Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand has announced that up to 150 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel could deploy to Poland on a humanitarian mission to support Ukrainian refugees.

Anand said on Thursday that with the immediate deployment of nearly 100 CAF personnel in the coming days they will provide assistance in reception centres operated by the Polish Territorial Defence Force located across the country. These centres are coordinating the onward movement of Ukrainian refugees in Poland and across Europe.

The CAF will provide support, limited medical care, mental health support and spiritual services, enabled by Ukrainian-speaking CAF personnel to assist with the immediate care and processing of refugees, she added.

"In many ways, the world is a much less safe place than it was two years ago, and certainly two months ago, and we must take stock and take action in order to remain a valuable reliable ally and partner for decades to come," she said.

According to the Defence Ministry, Canada has committed 145 million Canadian dollars ($116 million) in humanitarian assistance, and 35 million Canadian dollars ($28 million) in development assistance to provide direct support to Ukrainians, Xinhua news agency reported.

Canada has also announced more than 110 million Canadian dollars ($88 million) in military aid, and is providing military aid, both lethal and non-lethal, to support Ukraine.

Canada's Budget 2022 proposed to provide an additional 500 million Canadian dollars ($400 million) in 2022-23 to provide further military aid to Ukraine.