Canadians dig deep to reunite refugee family
MONTREAL, QC - "A family torn apart by war in the Congo have now been reunited after almost five years' separation, thanks to a spontaneous outpouring of support by Canadians.
Just before Christmas, Montreal City Mission and the Committee to Aid Refugees launched a joint appeal to help “Josephine and Ignace" (names have been changed) bring their four young adult children and one infant grandchild to Canada. The children went missing when the family was split in various refugee camps and lost all of their documentation. One daughter became pregnant in refugee detention.
Rick Goldman, a lawyer and coordinator for the Committee to Aid Refugees, says it was a five-year fight to bring the children to Canada. Then, once approval was granted, the family had less than a month before their Red Cross travel documentation expired.
“Because the children had lost everything," says Goldman, “the only way they could prove who they were was through DNA testing."
With only a month to raise almost $7,000 for the children's tickets the committee appealed to Canadians for help.
“We decided to give it a shot without much hope it would happen," says Goldman. “We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of response."
“It was an emergency situation," says Paula Kline, executive director of Montreal City Mission, “and ordinary Canadians made a difference."
She shares a letter that Josephine wrote to those who supported the appeal.
“For the first time in many years we are now crying for joy," writes the mother of four. “Your generosity has touched us very deeply and there are no words to express what we are feeling... We are a family that believes in God and all that He is capable of doing... I spent the entire evening at church praying for all of you who are helping us. We don't know you personally but God knows each one of you."
Kline adds, “When I translated this into English I had tears in my eyes. This kind of generosity from people who did not know them restored their faith in life, in humanity and in God."
Reuniting families
Janet Dench is executive director for the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR). Its Family Unification Campaign works in conjunction with dozens of faith and community groups from across the country.
“Since the beginning of CCR some 30 years ago," Dench says, “a major concern was how the refugees who are here suffer when there are delays in reuniting them with their families. We are constantly looking at ways to bring this to the government's and parliamentarians' attention. Urging them to weigh the human impact of keeping families from reuniting.
“The worst is when there are young children involved. In many cases refugees flee for their lives thinking that once they are somewhere safe they will bring their children over immediately. Then when they arrive in Canada the process is absolutely anguishing for them. We recently had a mother who had fled Haiti because of the violence and was beside herself because she discovered her children were now wandering the streets going hungry."
Dench says the Canadian visa office in Nairobi, which Josephine and Ignace's family came through, is one of the worst in the world. The office routinely takes up to three years to process applications from war-torn countries that report high levels of persecution - "including Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eretria and Rwanda. Last year wait times increased.
“Reuniting families is not a high enough priority for the government," Dench says. “What we're asking Canadians to do is to talk to their members of parliament and say this is a priority for us."
Giving hope
Heather Mantle of Matthew House Windsor recently took a mother to the airport to be reunited with the young children she had been forced to leave behind three years ago after her husband was killed in an African conflict.
“It was probably one of the most amazing highlights of my entire life," Mantle says. “People in the airport were crying just seeing it. It was a very emotional, very wonderful experience.
“We had helped her get all kinds of information together, and CCR put on a real push to get this family here. As the situation seemed to be getting worse and worse, knowing people were advocating for her family, and standing by them, gave her hope."
Kline adds, “We have to continue the solidarity to make sure even further measures aren't put forward to erode refugee rights. Immigrants contribute a lot to Canadian society, but that's not highlighted enough. If we could only find a way to talk about those who are not respecting our laws and regulations without branding a whole group in negative stereotypes."
“It's to Canada's credit," Goldman adds, “that ordinary Canadians are willing to open their hearts when confronted with a situation of need like this."
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