Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 04, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 A 6 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 REFUGEE CRISIS winnipegfreepress. com T HE image of a lifeless three- yearold Syrian refugee washed up on a Turkish beach haunts the president of the Syrian Assembly of Manitoba. " It could've been my kid," said Jude Kasas, who has three young children. Like millions of people around the world, they've seen the heartbreaking photo of Alan Kurdi, he said. " Fortunately, ( my kids) don't realize that, as kids of a Syrian man, they could've been in that situation." Had he not come to Canada as an international student 15 years ago and stayed, he and his family could be among the desperate Syrians boarding dangerous boats in the Mediterranean, he said. " Canada was the best option, and it is still the best option." He hopes the image of the child's tragic death haunts governments around the world and moves them to act - especially Canada's government. This may be Canada's chance " to be mentioned in the good books of history" if it opens its doors to Syria, said Kasas. " What should happen now is what should have happened three or four years ago when we started asking the federal government of the world's second- largest country and a member of the G7 to help. With all the resources we have, we could share in the burden and open our doors like Germany and Turkey have been doing," he said. " All we're asking for is a chance for the families to come here to Canada and contribute to Canadian society. Those people are desperate for a safe place and Canada. has that. " I think political will is what we're missing right now," Kasas said. " To me and so many of my friends, this is becoming an election factor. Our decision in October will be influenced by this. We have seen our current government demonstrate an unwillingness and unwelcomeness to the Syrian community." It's allowed too few privately sponsored Syrian refugees into Canada and hasn't stepped up to provide government assistance to resettle more, he said. To privately sponsor a refugee requires a major cash outlay upfront - $ 25,000 for a family of five, he said. That's too much for the small and fledgling Syrian community in Manitoba to do on its own, he added. It has joined with the group Refuge Winnipeg to sponsor three large Syrian families who are waiting in a Lebanese refugee camp to come to Manitoba. " This is an opportunity for Canada to be mentioned in the good books of history," said Kasas. " It's chance to do it again like when we helped the Vietnamese by sponsoring over 50,000 of them. We can do it again and give the Syrian refugees special consideration. They are completely desperate," he said. " All they're asking for is to live in a safe place and re- establish their lives." Canada, which relies on immigration for population growth, would benefit, he said. " We need people to help us drive our economy." Syrian newcomers would be a good fit for Canada, said Kasas. " English is taught as a second language in Syria and a lot of families are highly educated and highly skilled and will contribute to society. We're talking about very hard- working people." Helping them resettle here would be a good investment, said Kasas. " It will cost some money but once the families come here and establish themselves, they become taxpayers and part of the Canadian mosaic." carol. sanders@ freepress. mb. ca MANITOBA will accept more refugees if it gets the chance, Premier Greg Selinger says. " We've always been a province welcoming of refugees," he said Thursday. " Generally, we are very open. We've been asking for years to have the immigration cap lifted." But Selinger said government can't do it alone so it needs public and private help to bring in refugees and help them while they begin a new life here. " We think Manitoba is a good place to live." Selinger commented in the wake of reaction to a photograph showing a three- year- old Syrian child who drowned after a raft capsized while trying to get from Turkey to Greece. His mother and five- year- old brother also drowned. The Canadian Council for Refugees is arguing for Canada to commit to at least 10,000 government- assisted resettlement places for Syrians. The federal government determines the number of refugees that will be resettled in Canada. On average, Manitoba receives about 1,400 government and privately sponsored refugees every year. Manitoba's provincial nominee program is currently capped by the federal government at 5,000 nominees per year. The federal government controls how many immigrants can come under the family- reunification classification; that has a cap of about 1,800 per year. It means Manitoba gets from 13,000 to more than 16,000 immigrants each year. Selinger said the province knows it can take more people from other countries because at one point before restrictions were imposed, it was able to bring in about 20,000 people per year. "( Immigration) has made a big difference. It helps with the overall economic growth." Meanwhile, Tom Denton, executive director of Hospitality House, which sponsors refugees, said he has had to tell 5,000 possible refugees each year they can't come because of federal government caps. Denton credited Manitoba with bringing in refugees. " We have more privately sponsored and government- assisted refugees coming into Manitoba than any of the other smaller provinces," he said. " The government wants to grow the province. I think the federal government is missing out on an opportunity to grow the country." Denton said he knows there are private citizens, church groups and others that are willing and able to help bring in refugees, but the federal caps and red tape dramatically slow the numbers coming. " Westworth United Church, and a community of churches and mosques and synagogues, have sponsored three Syrian families, a total of 24 people, yet they are waiting and waiting," he said. " They have raised all the money needed, but immigration processes are so slow and cumbersome that it takes forever. It shouldn't be an immigration program, it should be a rescue program. " People coming from Syria are not going through all of what they are going through to come to Canada as an agent for ISIS. They are escaping." kevin. rollason@ freepress. mb. ca Call to aid Syrians as we did Vietnamese Locals ask Canada to launch huge rescue mission By Carol Sanders Manitoba willing to take in more asylum- seekers By Kevin Rollason PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jude Kasas came here as a student 15 years ago and has built a life with his wife, Alia Harb, daughter, Dujahn, and sons, Kemiee and Jadd ( back row). LOCAL human rights lawyers and refugee advocates condemned the Harper government after a photo of a drowned child, the son of an asylum- seeker, was shared around the world. Some hope the picture of three- year- old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, who was found face- down on a Turkish beach, will force the ruling Tories to immediately address the desperate plight of refugees. Lawyer David Matas described the Harper government's record on refugee sponsorship in two words: " not good." He pointed to a litany of changes the Tories have made to Canada's refugee sponsorship program that have left claimants swimming in red tape. They include the 2011 policy to restrict the amount of applications from certain visa posts; this includes the Nairobi visa office, which serves 18 African countries. The Canadian Council for Refugees estimates the Nairobi post has up to a six- year wait for an application to be processed. In 2012, the government announced a cap that drastically reduced the number of new applications allowed for privately sponsored refugees. The government said that would help alleviate the backlog. Tom Denton, executive director of Hospitality House Ministry, has been working with refugees for 35 years. He calls the changes " mean- spirited" and a logistical nightmare. For example, he cited the 2014 change to the definition of a dependant child to 19 from under 22. He describes it as a paperwork nightmare in which an application form for a family has ballooned to 22 pages from two in the past decade. " My work is sponsoring refugees. Right now, it has become so complex and so timeconsuming at the front end, people are waiting, who may be in crisis, and it takes four or five years to get them here," Denton said. In January, in response to the current crisis in Syria, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to bring 10,000 Syrians into Canada over the next three years. As of July, according to the federal government, 1,002 Syrians have settled in Canada this year, along with 1,300 Syrians from a pledge made in 2013. In 2010, the government pledged to increase the number of refugees it resettles by 20 per cent or 2,500 annually, a target it met only once, in 2011, when it brought in 27,873 refugees after resettling 24,697 refugees in 2010. Last year, 23,286 were resettled. In 1980, 40,000 refugees arrived in Canada. Matas argues there are several other changes that have made it more difficult for refugees to enter Canada in recent years, regardless of their nationality. This includes repealing the source- country class - meaning people who live in a refugee- like situation in their country of origin cannot apply. " In general, the government's response to refugee outflows has been to discourage it," he said. Matas describes the refugee system as nonfunctional, noting the reason refugees are choosing to cross oceans and flee rather than wait is a " vote with their feet" because the system isn't working. " If you want to prevent refugees from moving in the way that they are, you can't just create distance, you also have to create incentives to stay where you are," he said. " The way you do that is to have a functioning sponsorship program so people know they have a hope of coming if they stay where they are." Winnipeg immigration lawyer David Davis said the crisis is complex, regardless of which government is in power. He said a more efficient overseas refugee- application system would help ease the backlog. " We are talking about millions of people that need to move around," Davis said. " I don't think any political party that is in that place can do anything better than the other. I think you have sort of separate political rhetoric from the reality... it is just a matter of coming up with the best plan or solution." - with files from The Canadian Press kristin. annable@ freepress. mb. ca Where the leaders stand HOW did the party leaders respond to the Syrian refugee crisis? . Conservative Stephen Harper: Along with a pledge in January to bring in 10,000 Syrians and 3,000 Iraqis in the next three years, Harper said Thursday they need to help refugees by stopping " the awful violence that is being directed at them, displacing and killing them." . Liberal Justin Trudeau: On Thursday, Trudeau said Canada must immediately accept 25,000 Syrian refugees, noting it is about " who we are and what we continue to be." . New Democrat Tom Mulcair: He pledged to bring in 10,000 government- sponsored Syrian refugees by the end of this year and fast- track private sponsorships with no cap. " It's too easy to assign blame. Today let's talk about what we can do," he tweeted on Thursday. . Green party's Elizabeth May: Said Canada should immediately accept 25,000 new Syrian refugees, calling the current system " expensive and loaded with obstacles." Tory policies ' mean- spirited' Advocates blast government on number of refugee sponsorships during its tenure By Kristin Annable ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Stephen Harper's government is vulnerable on the issue of refugee sponsorship. HARPER TEARS UP A10 A_ 06_ Sep- 04- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A6 9/ 3/ 15 10: 29: 02 PM ;