Refugee family in ‘limbo’ as Sudan war prevents arrival in Halifax
Global News
A mother of three children currently in a refugee camp who was supposed to be moving to Halifax is now stranded due to the ongoing war in Sudan.
A mother of three children currently in a refugee camp who was supposed to be moving to Halifax is now stranded due to the ongoing war in Sudan.
On May 3, the Open Harbour Refugee Association posted on Facebook that it had received information that the airport in Khartoum, Sudan, was officially closed. The family, originally from Eritrea, has been living in a refugee camp in Kassala, Sudan, and their original arrival date in Halifax would have been May 25.
Marie Thompson, co-chair of the association, said it hasn’t been in a situation like this before.
“We’re all in a kind of limbo because we really want to continue to be a port of refuge for them. Unless the war, I suppose, gets worse or the federal government suspends their status, I don’t really know what to expect,” Thompson said.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had the family on a list, where they were matched with the association to sponsor them. Open Harbour Refugee Association (OHRA) had an apartment secured for the family, but after receiving the news, it had to let it go.
This would have been the association’s sixth sponsorship.
Thompson explained the selection process and what a sponsorship does. The way a family or individual is selected is the United Nations provides IRCC with a list of people who are considered vulnerable and in need of special consideration. “All refugees are vulnerable,” Thompson said.
The individuals from the list can come from all over the world and the UN identifies eight to 10 people. OHRA then has to prove it is able to support half of the selected refugee income for a year and the federal government would be responsible for the other half.
