I am so happy to have some good news to share with respect to the refugee families we have sponsored. Firstly, you may recall a couple of years ago that we sponsored a young Afghan man, M-, who lost his family in a horrific ship accident on the Mediterranean Sea that left Turkey and was heading for Italy, where the family planned to seek refuge. The ship sank, and M- and three other survivors were saved by the Greek authorities and were granted immediate asylum once they were brought to shore. However, because Greece granted asylum, IRCC (Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada) refused our application to sponsor M- to Canada where some family is located. We hired a lawyer and appealed the decision, which was also turned down.
M- suffered from severe PTSD and had never intended to go to Greece where refugee conditions are extremely challenging, and citizenship is virtually unattainable. After meetings with M- and his extended Canadian family on Zoom, M- chose to go to Germany where he felt he could have a future. We were able to arrange transport for M-, and he applied for asylum upon his arrival. His application was turned down. The decision was appealed, and we have just been advised that the appeal was successful: M- has been granted asylum in Germany and may live there, find work, and begin a new life.
We have further good news regarding the Afghan families in Pakistan. After deportations and aggressive culling of Afghan citizens by the Pakistan military, IRCC has borrowed a team from Abu Dhabi (UAE) to aid Islamabad (Pakistan) in processing the applications for all the sponsored Afghans on the ground living in hiding and under constant threat. In mid-July we received letters for updated information and documents, and we are feeling hopeful for the first time in a very long time that the process is back underway. We are all deeply indebted to Archbishop Stephens who attended meetings with local MPs on our behalf, and to all those who signed the Petition for Action that was tabled in Parliament in the spring.
Lastly, we have several Congolese families we have sponsored who are living in an enormous refugee camp in Uganda. Because of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, all our applications have been put on hold. Camp officials claim that the camp is Ebola-free, but IRCC has not yet lifted the hold.
I ask you to please continue holding all the families in prayer.
With gratitude,
Andrea