25 million dollars. That’s right 25 million dollars. According to Anneka Smit, professor at Windsor University and member of the steering committee of Canada4Refugees that is the amount of money sitting in trust, by groups like ours from across Canada who have raised money, in good faith, to welcome and support a family from Syria. We were matched with our family in January of 2016. Prior to matching we had to raise sufficient funds. Consequently, we have about $40,000 sitting in the bank waiting for the Khaled’s to come. Meanwhile, they sit in their apartment, Syrian refugees in Iraq, desperate to get here but the bureaucratic bottlenecks are making it impossible for them to even think of when that might happen.
Professor Smit, who was interviewed on The Current yesterday morning, observed that the government has done a massive job to date by bringing in the refugees that have already arrived. This was supported by the enthusiasm and generosity of Canadians but what started with buoyant optimism and charity is turning into a wasted opportunity of human power and good will. Our own small family is a perfect example. We have lists of people who wish to help. We have, as said previously, money in the bank. We had furniture organized, drivers lined up to ferry them about, people wishing to help teach them English. And now we all wait. It wouldn’t be so bad if we had not been encouraged to think it might happen soon. When we were matched we thought they might be here within a few months, maybe even two or three, but the months have dragged by and still they wait and we wait. They have used up their savings. It is impossible for them to get employment. But the hardest thing, as it is for anyone at anytime, is not knowing. Will it be this year? Will it take several years? We all know that living with indecision is extremely difficult. It is no different for refugees waiting for sanctuary.
However, there is one delightful element for me in all this waiting. I have been able to forge a friendship with the family. We skype and email regularly and we have developed a comfort level so that teasing and kibitzing happen easily and when sadness overwhelms them, tears flow too. I have been able to skype with them from various places in Muskoka – even once while out fishing on Lake Muskoka. So they have been given a view to the landscape and the lifestyle. I have introduced them to a number of people so when they arrive there will be familiar faces to greet them.
All that has to happen now is for the processing and paperwork to happen so we can thaw that frozen money.
