Getting ready
Group hopes to welcome Syrian refugees soon
Cape Bretoners prepare to welcome Syrian refugees.
Clearer timelines from the federal government on when Syrian refugees will be coming to Canada have given a Cape Breton group looking to take part in the relocation process more time to properly roll out the welcome mats.
Ottawa has committed to bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February, including the first 10,000 by the end of December.
Most of the first group to come by the end of the year will be assisted in their transition to Canada by sponsor groups.
Any refugees who make their way to Cape Breton will most likely be part of the final 15,000 that will be brought to Canada by the end of February.
“For us in Cape Breton, we are hoping to at least have the 10 families come, and with Christmas coming that certainly gives us a lot more time, although we are getting pretty close to being ready to receive people,” said Andrew Lynk, co-chair of the steering committee for Lifeline Syria.
“That just gives us all the more time to get everything ready in terms of host families and finding places for people to live and making sure all the support systems are in place.”
If the federal government had committed to bringing all 25,000 refugees to Canada by the end of the year, it might have created some tight deadlines, he said.
“These are very vulnerable people who have been exposed to a lot of destruction and violence coming here, and if we didn’t have our complete act together that wouldn’t be good either,” he said. “We are pretty close to getting it together, so another couple of weeks would be great.”
News that families will be the first admitted to Canada does not change Lifeline Syria’s plans, Lynk said.
“We have aged more rapidly than just about anywhere in Canada, so younger families with kids are most welcome,” he said.
“Our main purpose is to provide a safe refuge for a year, and if we are really successful hopefully some of the families will stay. But the most important thing is that safe refuge. That’s what we are all about to begin with.”
Preparations now in the works for Lifeline Syria include the recruitment of more volunteers to assist with the process.
“We are hoping each of the 10 Syrian families that we are hoping for each will have five individuals or five families or groups surrounding them just to help out, support them with logistics, welcome them to the community and just be there for them so they are not just left in isolation.”
The group in Victoria County looking to host two of the 10 families who might be bound for Cape Breton is also reporting that preparations are going well.
“We are kind of waiting but we have decided we are going to start to raise some money because we have had a fair number of requests from people who want to make donations,” said Athol Grant.
“I had a call from a couple in Ingonish who want to give $1,000 towards the project. Another person who called from Ontario had a five-bedroom, four-bathroom large house and said we were welcome to use it if need be. There have been some really fantastic offers.”