Officials didn’t get refugee application from dad of drowned Syrian boys: minister
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the federal government did not receive a refugee application from Abdullah Kurdi — the father of two drowned Syrian boys who have become the tragic face of the Syrian refugee crisis — nor did it offer him citizenship after the fact.
Officials in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada were, however, contacted at least twice by New Democrat MP Fin Donnelly and his office to inquire about what avenues might be open to have Abdullah Kurdi’s sister sponsor the family and bring them to Canada.
Images of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body that washed ashore, combined with news of the family’s apparent attempts to get to Canada, have sparked an emotionally and politically charged debate about whether the country is doing enough to accept desperate refugees who have fled the Syrian conflict.
While Abdullah Kurdi did not submit a refugee application, he and his family were looking for help to get to Canada. Alan, his five-year-old brother, Ghalib, and their mother, Rehenna, drowned after their overloaded boat capsized en route from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada says it received an application for Abdullah Kurdi’s brother, Mohammad Kurdi, but it was rejected because it was incomplete and “did not meet regulatory requirements for proof of refugee status recognition.”
Abdullah’s sister, Tima Kurdi, who lives in Coquitlam, explained Thursday she had not yet submitted a refugee application for Abdullah Kurdi and his family because she was trying to get Mohammad and his family settled first.
Donnelly says Tima Kurdi approached his office in March for help getting her brothers and their families to Canada. He personally delivered a letter to Alexander on her behalf asking for help from his office so that both of her brothers and their families could be granted refugee status.
After delivering the letter to Alexander, Donnelly’s office followed up with an email to Citizenship and Immigration on April 28, going through the usual channels MPs use when assisting constituents.
The minister said Thursday that Donnelly hand-delivered the letter to him and that it went into a correspondence unit at Citizenship and Immigration.
Alexander said he saw the letter and “noted that there was urgency attached to it,” but that there was no application from Abdullah Kurdi.
Abdullah told reporters Thursday that Canadian officials had offered him citizenship, but that he has declined, Alexander and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, however, say that is not true.