There is a definite lull in Guelph’s massive, broad-based Syrian refugee effort, as hundreds of local volunteers and contributors await federal government action on the next phase of arrivals. A local letter writing campaign has been launched to spur government action.
Jaya James, the volunteer coordinator of Guelph Refugee Sponsorship Forum said Tuesday that of the 76 families sponsored locally, just eight families have so far arrived in Guelph, with three more families confirmed to arrive this month.
She said six refugee families are now settled in the communities of Drayton, Fergus and Elora, north of Guelph.
“Essentially what happened is at the end of February the government hit its total of what they wanted to bring it,” Jaya James said. “And they didn’t do any flights in March. That was a surprise to us and a slow down, and they have now said it is going to be a bit slower for things to come in.”
Last week, Immigration Minister John McCallum said more staff would be sent to Canadian visa offices in the Middle East to speed up processing of Syrian refugees.
That effort is part of the government’s pledge to bring 10,000 privately sponsored Syrians to Canada no later than early next year. The Liberal government’s goal to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada was met in February.
McCallum and his ministry have faced criticism recently for scaling back the resettlement of Syrians after the 25,000 goal was reached.
James said based on information received from the Canadian Sponsorship Agreement Holders Association, and the office of Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield, it now looks like the majority of the families coming to Guelph will arrive by the end of this year.
Those involved in the local effort, including Jim Estill, the entrepreneur and philanthropist who pledged $1.5 million to sponsor 50 families, expected the influx to begin in late 2015.
“But they are probably going to come in slower than we anticipated,” James said. “We are officially launching a letter writing campaign to the minister’s office that’s going out this week.”
She hopes the letter puts some pressure on the minister, considering the amount of work and the state of readiness in Guelph.
“Everybody here has gotten ready, and people made a lot of changes and adjustments to their lives to get ready,” she said. “We need more certainty around arrival times, and ideally a bit faster arrival times so we can make use of all those resources that have been brought together.”
There are three warehouses holding household items and clothing, the spaces donated by the owners only until the end of May. Money may have to be spent on space rental, money that would have been spent on the needs of families.
“Obviously our priority is to put all our money into supporting families,” she said.
The letter, addressed to the immigration minister, explains some of the local problems that have resulted from the delay, including the strain on volunteers who have taken time off work to assist the effort. There are also insurance and rental costs being incurred by sponsorship groups.
“People who are organizing that volunteer support in the area are frustrated with the government,” she added. “We are encouraging the government to reduce their frustration by providing greater certainty around arrival times, to speed up the processing of applications received before Feb. 29th, and to provide more regular updates and progress reports as to where things are at, because the communication has been really poor. People are trying to make decisions, but without having the information.”
