Students and staff at Toronto’s Ryerson University have organized to sponsor 44 Syrian refugees to come to Canada and the mayor has challenged groups in other Canadians cities to do the same.
Government calls for private sponsors
The Canadian government has said Canada would take 10,000 refugees from Syria over the next three years, but that 60 per cent of them would have to be privately sponsored. That means groups must first get approval and then agree to support and assume the expenses of the refugee for one year or in some cases, three years. They should offer help with clothing, housing, and food.
More than four million refugees have left Syria and more than seven million people have fled their homes but remain inside the country, according to the latest United Nations estimates.
‘Most rewarding thing I have ever done’
Lifeline Syria is a new organization that promises to “recruit, train and assist sponsor groups to welcome and support 1,000 Syrian refugees coming to Canada as permanent immigrants to resettle in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) over the next two years.” Its efforts compare to those of Operation Lifeline which in 1979, encouraged private sponsors to bring in refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
“It was a scramble but it’s probably the most rewarding thing I have ever done,” says Wendy Cukier, vice-president of research and innovation at Ryerson University. She formed a group to sponsor a couple and one relative from Vietnam. They settled and, in turn, sponsored other relatives. The extended family in Canada now numbers in the hundreds and is flourishing.
Listen‘A typical Canadian success story’
“It’s a real, in my view, typical Canadian success story,” says Cukier and one she hopes to reproduce as part of the Ryerson community project. The plan is for 11 teams to organize and raise money to each sponsor a family of four, the first of which would arrive in January or February 2016.
The mayor of Toronto attended the launch of the Lifeline Syria campaign. He is proud of his citizens’ efforts and wants people in other Canadian cities to take up the challenge.
The Canadian Council for Refugees has criticized the Canadian government for requiring that 60 per cent of Syrian refugees be privately sponsored rather than supported by the government. It notes that changes to the health care provided to asylum-seekers means private sponsors could be liable for catastrophic health care costs.
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