Mid-June update

We apologize for not having written earlier to let you know what is happening with our Syrian family, but  the sad truth is that very little has been happening. They have been approved, but the Canadian Government has slowed down their pace, and has said some approved families may not arrive until 2017. (The Globe and Mail ran an excellent piece on the problem two weeks ago, which you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/jlxwfcw)

The application to sponsor Mohammad, the fiancé of Nour, the family’s 18 year old daughter, is in the approval stage with the Canadian Unitarian Congress and so he’s taking his place in the queue.  I wrote to Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship McCallum, expressing our frustration at the glacial pace of processing and got back, “Your support and assistance in the Syrian resettlement project are to be commended, and we understand your desire to have this family arrive in Canada as soon as possible... Thank you for writing and expressing your concerns.”

In the meantime, we are in touch with our family in Jordan. Through the generosity of Dawanet, they will receive $1000 per month from May to October, at which point we will look at where we are. This is a huge help to them, as they need money for food, medicine and their continued education.  We aren’t able to use any of the money Neighbourhood supporters generously donated to our family, as the fact that we are a Canadian charity means the money must be spent in Canada.

I’m sorry to not have more to report, as I’m sure you also are. But at this point, from our end, I’m afraid there doesn’t seem to be much more that we can do.

Michael Polanyi & Peter Marmorek, co-chairs of SEA (Social & Environmental Action Committee)