By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

They fled for their lives and their freedom from the Taliban. Now safe in Canada, they long to help those left behind in Afghanistan.

At a recent information evening jointly organized by several groups – including the diocesan Office of Migration —  a group of newcomers to Saskatoon learned more about the difficulties and challenges of sponsoring others from their homeland still living in danger.

Most of those in attendance were the young women who fled Afghanistan in 2021 through “Operation Afghan Safety” or what is known as the “30 birds” evacuation – a unique grassroots effort that brought about 450 to Canada on a one-time emergency program. Some 200 young Afghani women who arrived through that emergency effort have settled in Saskatoon.

“These young women, and some of their family members, are very young. Most of the girls are here alone. They do not have constituent groups (local committees of support). Some of them need friends and mentors,” explained Dr. Jan Bigland- Pritchard of the diocesan Office of Migration.

“A university staff member who volunteers with Open Door Society is recruiting mentors for them – they have good English, they need somebody who cares, to help them find their way, to get connected – someone to perhaps meet for coffee, have dinner once a month, talk and listen,” she added. (For more information about providing assistance, contact the Office of Migration: migration@rcdos.ca.)

The main purpose of the event May 15 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family was to provide information to newcomers about helping family and friends left behind in Afghanistan to also come to safety in Canada.

“I think the thing that has brought you all here tonight is your deep desire to help friends and families who are still in difficulties, either in Afghanistan or in Pakistan. We have watched with great sadness how things have developed and we are so happy that you have come to be among us,” Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard told the gathering. “It is something that you will no doubt want to do, to bring friends and family, however it is not going to be very easy.”

With presentations translated into Dari throughout the evening, the gathering also heard from Dr. Mark Bigland-Pritchard of the Mennonite Central Committee, and Professor Andrew Ireson of the Refugee Student Support Network. Also on hand to provide information were refugee sponsorship trainer Helen Smith-Macintyre and Chris Veeman, a local immigration lawyer who volunteered his time.

Since the special Afghanistan emergency refugee programs have now ended in Canada, future applicants must go through the regular, slower Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) channels.

“We asked the government whether they would be making more spots available, but so far they haven’t said that they are,” said Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard. “So what that means is: if you want to bring friends and family members, you can do so on the regular immigration pathways that Canada has in place. Not all of them are specifically for refugees. There are the economic programs, such as Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee program, and the Family Class program in which you can bring your spouse or your child (unfortunately it is a very small definition of family).”

Private sponsorship of refugees through Sponsorship Agreement Holders such as the diocese of Saskatoon was also explained during the event.

Presenters also addressed hopes and expectations versus the reality of the slow and sometimes difficult process of sponsorship,

“Sometimes our family and friends overseas still have very big expectations about what we can do to help them,” noted Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard. “Their expectation is very big and that can become a very heavy burden on your shoulders. That is why we want you to have very good information about what is possible and what is not possible.”

She also gently noted: “I think that in many hearts there is the feeling that because things are very bad back home, I must do this (sponsorship) as quickly as I can. But this may not be the best way. You need to be settled yourself, before you settle someone else. The time you spend getting your English and finding good work is going to give you more ability to help others.”

As for the big questions of how long it will take and how much it will cost to bring someone to Canada, she noted that on the private refugee sponsorship program it takes between 18 months and three years before family might arrive. Cost depends on the number of people being settled, and their ages, with the amounts required set by the government. “As a kind of rough average, for each person it is around $11,000 minimum. But that is assuming you have more than one person who are sharing expenses. Bringing one person on their own, then you need to think about having $18,500 in place.”

Dr. Mark Bigland-Pritchard of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) provided more details about three strands of sponsorship – a “Group of Five” option whereby five Canadian citizens or permanent residents get together to sponsor someone who has official UNHCR refugee status, the Community Sponsorship Program for assisting those who also have official refugee status with the United Nations, and sponsorship through Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) such as MCC or the diocese of Saskatoon.

“We (SAHs) are able to help people who have not yet been recognized as refugees. But one of the reasons that it takes so long to bring people is that the Canadian authorities have to then research the background of the people that you want to bring in…and sometimes it takes a very long time and we get very frustrated,” he said.

Professor Andrew Ireson of the Refugee Student Support Network urged those present to ask their questions and get the information they need.

“The other thing I wanted to say tonight is to greet the non-Afghans in the room – we also are working on coordinating mentors,” said Ireson. “If you are here and are meeting members of the Afghan community for the first time, you can see that they are a really wonderful group of people, and if you feel that you have time to help a family or a group of friends get settled in Canada, get in touch with me to be set up as a mentor as well.”

[For more information, please contact the diocesan Office of Migration at migration@rcdos.ca]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the communications coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon – rcdos.ca]