Update from the Refugee Sponsorship Committee

It is disappointing that the Almattars have not yet arrived. We were told to expect them by the end of February. In good faith, we rented an apartment for March 1st and spent the next two weeks lovingly furnishing the apartment with items mainly donated by the two congregations. One team researched typical Syrian foods and purchased these to stock the kitchen cupboards. Cootes Paradise School was visited to pave the way for the two girls to start school as early as possible. So the good news is that the delay has enabled us to be fully prepared for when the family finally arrives.

However, during the week after Easter we became concerned that there may be a problem with the process. There were reports in the media concerning a change in direction at the end of February on the part of the Ministry responsible for refugees; that Syrian refugees were no longer being expedited, and that we may have to wait up to a year. Many sponsorship groups were complaining about the apparent change. Not only were we worried about the continued plight of the Almattar family, but we were also concerned about the potential poor stewardship of the money donated to this cause, much of it at some personal sacrifice.

As a committee we wrote a letter to John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, copied to other local M.P.s and M.M.P.s and to the C.B.O.Q. The office of Karina Gould, M.P. for Burlington was very helpful, tracking down our specific sponsorship pathway, and reporting the following:

As of February 9, 2016 our application for sponsorship was approved. All medical, background and security checks were completed and the Almattars were cleared to immigrate. Their visas were printed and sent to the International Organization of Migration, (IOM) in Beirut

The IOM is responsible for making the travel arrangements for refugees. Once these are made the travel information is conveyed to Canada’s Visa Office in Beirut which in turn will notify the department in Ottawa.

Once Ottawa receives the confirmation of travel arrangements we, as the sponsorship group, will notified to be ready to receive the Almattars at the destination city, (Toronto)

The above process usually takes two months. So, since the IOM was notified Feb 9th we now expect to receive the Almattars in mid April. Pray for the expeditious immigration of ‘our’ family.