"The roadblock is the Canadian government"

The shocking photo of 3-year old Syrian Aylan Kurdi, found lifeless on a Turkish beach a few days ago, appears to have generated more empathy for the plight of refugees, and more media interest, than any other report about migrants in previous months. Canadians are increasingly holding their government accountable for not bringing in more refugees, especially Syrian refugees, and for letting Europe deal with the growing migrant crisis on its own. The government is far from reaching its already modest goal of bringing in 10,000 Syrians over 3 years, with only about 700 arriving in Canada last year. The CBC's The Current talked to our group member Raghu about some of the frustrations sponsorship groups such as ours are facing. Following the great, in-depth interview, Raghu was bombarded with other media requests. Hopefully the attention the migrant issue is finally getting will push the Canadian government to bring in more Syrian and other refugees as soon as possible, and to make it easier for people like us to sponsor them.

Listen to Raghu's interview: http://bit.ly/1L7nEz4

 

Where are the Syrian refugees?

The CBC's Ontario Today aired an interesting show today about what it takes to sponsor refugees, featuring the efforts of Lifeline Syria, a group that is trying to get 1000 Syrian refugees into the GTA, and others. Our very own Raghu called in and voiced some of the frustrations our group is facing:

Where are the Syrians on the sponsorship list? Why are there  bottlenecks to find sponsorship agreement holders? Why does the Canadian government make it so difficult for a motivated group such as ours to sponsor refugees?

Listen to Ontario Today: What it takes to sponsor refugees

A balance of excitement and apprehension

We're more or less ready, as a group. We've had several meetings to get to know each other, learn about the process, and discuss how we will function. We seem to have some commonalities of what motivates us: a variable blend of social action, civic responsibility, and a chafing to do something to alleviate suffering. For myself, I think I've found a balance of excitement and apprehension about embarking on this journey.

Currently, however, what's delaying us is that we have not yet been accepted by a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH). The SAH is something of the guarantor with the Canadian government, signing the contract on our behalf, saying that we will fulfill our end of the bargain to settle a refugee family. I find it strange that the SAH's recognized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada are almost all either religious groups or ethnically-based. We, as a group of secular-minded, socially-motivated, concerned citizens who are ethnically diverse and not religiously-inclined... don't seem to quite fit the mold. But surely we are not alone in our willingness to help? We will likely end up working with one of the churches, in an arrangement of convenience, but I am uneasy about the "fit" of this relationship.

Then there is the irony of the Syrian refugees. Our group--I think like many--started because we were moved to action by the continued terrible desperation in Syria. Four million Syrians have now fled their country since the conflict began. The Canadian government announced early this year that they would accept an additional 10 000 Syrian refugees. But there are no Syrians "available" on the lists of government-approved refugees awaiting settlement, despite that many other groups are waiting and willing to help them settle. There is a bureaucratic bottleneck somewhere. I think it's tragic. 

We've decided that there are many people in great need, so we will not insist on Syrians. Indeed, there are many hidden conflicts and forgotten human rights issues. The lists include Eritreans, Congolese, Burmese, and others. The Syrian crisis motivated many of us; I can only hope that our motivation can also benefit the Syrian people who have been affected.

By Wendy Lai

Who should we sponsor?

We started of our second meeting with a pot-luck dinner at Pegi and Phil’s house.
Rebecca, a registered nurse with extensive mental health experience, joined us to become our newest member. There are now 14 people in the sponsorship group – plus 15-year old Kieran, who has decided to accompany his uncle Raghu to the meetings. Will this large size make things unwieldy and complicated? Some group members suggested splitting the group in two, each with their own sponsorship agreement. After some discussions we agreed to stay together, as it would put less pressure on us inexperienced ‘first time sponsors’ and allow for more flexibility, as many of us have a busy schedule and are often traveling. We all agreed that given our large size, we need functioning sub-committees with clear expectations.

Several of us volunteered to be the lead for the various tasks required by the sponsorship agreement, such as housing, employment and health. 

One of the most important questions we asked ourselves was: Who should we sponsor? A woman at risk, someone from the LGBT community, a family? Some thought that sponsoring a bigger group of people might be too ambitious financially. We would need to raise at least $17,000 for a group of four – probably a lot more given how expensive Toronto is. Others felt strongly about sponsoring a mother,or parents, with children and felt that our group is big and connected enough to raise sufficient funds. Some members pointed out the potential difficulty of settling in teenagers into Canadian society. 

Given the strong medical expertise in our group, with two physicians and two registered nurses, and the availability of excellent medical and mental health resources in Toronto, we agreed that we should be open to sponsoring refugees with medical conditions. Several of us have been especially moved by the plight of Syrian refugees. We recognized that our choices are dependent on the profiles we will receive from Citizen and Immigration Canada, via the sponsorship agreement holder. Once we choose a profile we can put a place holder for three days to make further inquiries.

Our next important step will be to find a sponsor agreement holder (SAH). We discussed which one would be the most suitable for us. Andrew will first contact the United Church to see if a congregation is willing to support us. This lead to an interesting discussion of why SAHs seem to be mostly faith-based. None of us has any affiliation to a church or other religious group. Why are there not more secular groups involved in sponsoring refugees?
By Claudia Blume

Come as you are

In contemplating the ideal profile for those that our group will sponsor, I think many of us wonder whether we will be able to relate to the refugees that we bring to Canada.  In many cases the people will be coming from an environment and a culture that is very different from our own. What’s more, what if the refugees have a set of values or a world view that is antithetical to our own values and the values of the Canadian community where we will be helping them to settle.

Our group considers the question of whether we should have some kind of criteria for deciding which refugees we will go after.  Or if we should avoid certain groups because they may be too patriarchical or hold doctrinaire religious views. In thinking about this topic I remembered Ontario’s slogan from the 70’s

“a place to stand, a place to grow, Ontari, ari, ari, o”.

Granted, not the most inspiring motto. But for me it represented the view that what we had here was a cultural mosaic which didn’t demand that one change to fit in and belong here.   All are welcome.  What Ontario offered its residents was simply a place of opportunity and the freedom to be who you are.  And to come as you are. 

Paul M., who joined us at this meeting as someone who has led groups who have already settled several groups of refugees, mentioned that in undertaking this project we can expect that it will be a learning experience for us Canadians.  Possibly an emotional journey and an opportunity for growth for each of us. 

And it made me think that while we are interacting with these people, people who on the surface appear very different from ourselves, while we help them to sort out their children’s schooling or their family doctor etc., that we will probably discover the shared humanity that lies within us and which will help both sides to transcend all the outward differences that before separated us and seemed so big.   

Andrew FitzGerald

"Maybe mother's day isn't the best day for this"

It’s a Sunday morning in May and I’m a little nervous.  Claudia and I have invited quite a few people to a refugee awareness event at our house for this afternoon.  But it is Mother’s Day and a lot of people have already indicated that they can’t make it. 

I’m hoping we won’t be wasting the time of our 3 invited speakers, each of whom has lots of experience in this area and who will be donating their Sunday afternoon in order to meet with us.

As it turns out, we end up with a pretty full house with over 30 people showing up. It seems that the refugee issue is resonating with people.

The first speaker, Yosief Araya, works for the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP). The program is funded by the federal government and is designed to support Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs). Yosief explained to us the different ways in which private citizens can sponsor refugees.  One option is to nominate people for the Canadian government to recognize as refugees (so-called “named” refugees). The process takes between 24 – 48 months and sponsors receive no financial support from the government. 

The other option, which seems a better fit for us, is to sponsor refugees through the “Blended Visa Office-Referred Program”. These are people who have already been identified by the UNHCR as refugees, have been accepted by Canada and are “ready to travel“.  This latter category requires very little paperwork on the part of the sponsoring group and the refugees can arrive into Canada within 1 to 4 months. Under this program, at least five people have to form a constituent group and have to pay for more than half of the sponsored refugee’s costs in the first year. Yosief told us that Canada plans to bring in 800 to 1000 refugees under the blended refugee settlement program in 2015. 

We learned that the main focus of Canada's blended VOR program in 2015 is on the following populations: Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Congolese, Burundians, Burmese, Bhuanese and Colombians.

Yosief is followed by Khwaka Kukuboo of the United Church of Canada. Faith communities have historically been a leader in forming groups to sponsor and settle refugees and the United Church has been one of the biggest players in Canada. Khwaka shared a document with profiles of refugees currently available for sponsorship with us. The vast majority are from Eritrea, followed by Burmese. Surprisingly, there are no Syrians on the list.

Our final speaker was Larry Peloso, representing the Metropolitan Community Church, which has been a leader in advocating for LGBT refugee issues and sponsoring and settling refugees who are being persecuted for their sexual orientation.

I think many people in the audience found it surprising that the Canadian policy for most refugees is that they must be sponsored and settled by private citizens in order for them to be allowed to come to Canada.  While European governments will pay for and arrange the settlement of refugees, it is private citizens who must undertake both the cost and the time to settle many of the refugees coming to Canada.

There was also a discussion about how big a problem the current refugee situation is. Globally, there are an estimated 60 million people who have been displaced due to war and persecution. 13 million have been forced to flee their countries.  

We talked about how easy it is to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis, to become paralyzed when confronted by the need.  But then someone pointed out that while our sponsorship of a single refugee family would only represent a drop in the bucket, really a drop in the ocean , that in fact for that one family, for each of the individuals within that family, it is a pretty transformative ‘drop’.  That in fact that family will be moving from a refugee camp where they are living in limbo, with no clear hope for the future, to Toronto where whole new avenues of possibility and opportunity will open up for each one of the family members. 

Ending our meeting with this discussion regarding sponsoring a refugee family, providing a hopeful future where it doesn’t exist right now, and thinking specifically about what it must be like for the parents themselves to see their children in need, it suddenly seemed appropriate that we were holding this event on Mother’s Day, in a safe place, on a sunny afternoon.  

Andrew FitzGerald