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Union-sponsored Syrian refugee families waiting for immigration clearance could be settled in Canada by the end of the year following a recent decision to restart application processing.
Unifor, which is sponsoring five families, rushed to file documents last Wednesday after the federal government announced it would process all Syrian refugee applications that had not been included in its 25,000 quota from the war-torn country before March 31.
Processing of the extra, privately sponsored applications is expected to be finalized by the end of this year or early next year.
Mohamad Alsadi, director of Unifor’s Human Rights and International department, said the announcement indicated the union’s sponsored families — destined to settle in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) — may arrive before the end of the year.
“Our applications went in [last Wednesday] and it is our expectation that our families will be here soon,” he said.
The union had been engaged in discussions around aiding with the humanitarian crisis in Syria since last May.
Proposals to sponsor families emerged in June, Alsadi said
“I think what happened with [Alan Kurdi] for our members was a big issue and we had to engage and they were asking us to do something so this is where the discussion with Lifeline Syria came in.”
After meeting with the organization, it was agreed sponsorship of five refugee families would be appropriate for Unifor, he said.
“We put the call out to our locals across the GTA area and within weeks we had requests to be a volunteer from about 70 individuals.”
They will help the families settle into Canada during their first year, he said.
“We also have $175,000 for the five families, which is about $35,000 each.”
Volunteers, who had taken part in three training sessions coordinated by Lifeline Syria, were also in contact with relatives of the refugees — known as “anchor families” — living in the GTA, Alsadi said.
Mississauga resident Riad Sabbagh and wife Ibtisam Chabouk are one of the anchor families Unifor is working with.
Originally from the northern city of Aleppo, Sabbagh and Chabouk immigrated to Canada in 1995.
“We came here to work,” said Sabbagh, a financial services worker.
“I was in England before [for university] and I worked there as well, but I heard that Canada is more open for immigration. We preferred to come here because it’s multicultural and you can mix with others without any problems,” he said.
Most of Sabbagh and Chabouk’s relatives have fled Syria because of the war.
“We have many people outside Syria — some of them in Turkey, others in Lebanon, Germany, Holland.”
Unifor are sponsoring Sabbagh’s brother, his wife and their three teenage daughters for admittance as refugees into Canada.
Sabbagh would not disclose the names of the family and their current location for security reasons.
“They are staying with someone temporarily [and are] illegally staying there. They are just waiting for us to get them here,” he said.
The slow application process had been difficult for everyone, Sabbagh said.
“It’s hard to make contact but we still communicate with them.
“We are updating them about their case.”
Schooling for his three nieces had also ceased as the family were effectively in hiding, Sabbagh said.
Chabouk, who works in office administration, said everything was ready for the family’s arrival.
“We just need approval from the government,” she said.
Editor’s note: An earlier verision of this piece noted each Unifor-sponsored family would receive $85,000 each. Our math was wrong on that and each family will in fact receive $35,000.
Teuila Fuatai is a recent transplant to Canada from Auckland, New Zealand. She settled in Toronto in September following a five-month travel stint around the United States. In New Zealand, she worked as a general news reporter for the New Zealand Herald and APNZ News Service for four years after studying accounting, communication and politics at the University of Otago. As a student, she had her own radio show on the local university station and wrote for the student magazine. She is rabble’s labour beat reporter this year.
Photo of Riad Sabbagh and wife Ibtisam Chabouk used with permission.
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