KELOWNA – The Canadian refugee sponsorship process has gotten more bureaucratic over the years, according to Keith Germaine, a representative with the Diocese of Nelson Sponsorship Program.
“It’s getting more and more complex. The rules are changing every week, and it’s making it more and more difficult for people who want to be immigrants here,” says Germaine.
Germaine has been involved in refugee sponsorship programs for more than two decades in the Okanagan.
“We don’t know why when these people are suffering the way they are, and in the desperate state that they are in, why there needs to be such a waiting period,” says Germaine.
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Germaine says St. Charles Garnier Church in Kelowna has been trying for almost one year to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, with the Canadian government telling them week after week that the process would move forward. However, he says that hasn’t happened. Instead, the church has sponsored a Columbian family.
“We decided to take one of the families that has been pre-approved and so we took a family from Columbia and they’re here,” says Germaine.
Meanwhile, the red tape battle to try and sponsor a Syrian family continues. Germaine and his church are not alone; Mission Creek Alliance Church has had to jump similar hurdles.
“We ran into the same challenges as well that there weren’t many Syrian families on the list,” says Keith Whitacker, Lead Pastor at Mission Creek Alliance Church.
Germaine says anyone looking for more information about the Canadian immigration process can attend a free symposium at Okanagan College on September 25 or one at UBC Okanagan on September 26. Click here for more information and to register for the event.
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