New Canadian government support for Syrian refugees

Things are finally moving in Canada. International Development Minister Christian Paradis announced a Syrian emergency relief fund on Saturday that will match donations from Canadians up to $100 million.

And on the same day, the Ontario government pledged $10.5 million to the Syrian refugee crisis and hopes the province can resettle 10.000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.

A Global News reporter did a short interview with our group member Andrew for her story.

"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

We are a group now

We had hoped to find at least 5 people needed to create a constituency group that can sponsor a refugee under the blended VOR program. The response was bigger than we had hoped: 13 people (and two guests) showed up at our first ‘formal’ meeting. Most came from two different groups – association members of Doctors Without Borders (where Claudia works) and members of a film group to which Andrew and Claudia belong.  It turns out that many of us live in Riverdale and that the group members have a wide range of expertise that will be valuable for settling in refugees, including backgrounds in medicine, education, human resources, finance and communications.

We shared our motivations for joining the group. Some of us simply wanted to give back while others have been particularly alarmed by the plight of Syrian refugees and wanted to do something instead of just feeling helpless in the face of the enormity of the problem  - and being frustrated by how few refugees from Syria and other countries Canada is taking in. Once a leader, Canada is now a shadow of its former self when it comes to taking in refugees. 

Canada aims to to resettle about 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next three years - less than 0.02 per cent of the number of Syrian refugees hosted by Jordan, and not even 0.009 per cent of the total taken in by Lebanon. Ottawa expects private groups to should the majority of the burden. Several of us are appalled that the Canadian government makes private citizens pay a big part of the costs for settling in refugees and hope to raise awareness about this issue.

We invited Paul M. to our first meeting, whose faith-based group had sponsored two sets of refugees, a family from Iraq and a couple from Burma. The group’s experience was mixed: one settlement was very positive and easy while the other one was very challenging, mainly due to different expectations of the group and the refugees, who had not been informed prior to their arrival that Canadian sponsors would be responsible for their settlement in the first year. They were angry that they could not live with family members in a different town but in the end valued their experience in Toronto as they were able to adapt much quicker to their host culture and learn English faster.

Paul gave us some valuable pieces of advice, such as that we should be careful with our expectations. Our role is to help settle refugees and not become friends for life. We need to be aware that we will be quite busy before the refugees arrive and in the first 2 months after their arrival, with activities such as finding housing, opening bank accounts, finding schools etc. He stressed the importance of group formation and developing conflict resolution mechanisms.

Claudia Blume