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2015 Newsmakers: Dozens of Syrian refugees settling in York Region

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 4, 2016
By Lisa Queen

From war-torn and displacement images half a world away, to their arrival on Canadian shores, Syrian refugees captured headlines this year like no other newsmakers.

Their plight began hitting closer to home over the last few weeks as Canada started welcoming families, including the first planeload of refugees to reach Canadian soil on Dec. 10. They were greeted at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne and other top-ranking politicians.

In York Region, Immigration Minister John McCallum, MP for Markham-Thornhill, and Health Minister Jane Philpott, MP for Markham-Stouffville, are playing key roles in the settlement issue.

Canada is welcoming 10,000 refugees by the end of the year and another 15,000 by the end of February. The government has indicated a total of 50,000 refugees may call Canada home by the end of 2016.

The federal government will invest up to $678 million over six years toward settlement and integration support. The Ontario government has agreed to accept 10,000 refugees and has pledged $10.5 million over two years.

The majority of refugees are privately sponsored, including about 76 now in the process of settling in York Region, according to a Dec. 17 report from Adelina Urbanski, the region’s commissioner of community and health services.

Across the region, residents are forming networks and raising money to sponsor refugees.

They speak in generous terms as they describe their hopes of providing a safe home for refugees, despite any challenges along the way.

“Life is a risk, there’s no doubt about it, but surely of all the risks we take in life, this has to be one worth taking,” said Rev. Joan Masterton, the minister at Stouffville’s St. James Presbyterian Church, which is spearheading the Stouffville Cares campaign to sponsor a refugee family.

“We are a Christian church. We consider ourselves children of God and disciples of Christ. Jesus, himself, was a refugee.”

That sentiment to welcome refugees has been echoed across the region.

“What started as an interest from just a handful of people resulted in an outpouring of support that I have never experienced or seen before,” said Aimee Esparaz, who is working with others in her Richmond Hill and Yorkdale-based church, The Meeting House, to sponsor two refugee families.

Meanwhile, students with the York Catholic District School Board raised almost $70,000 as part of the Toronto Archdiocese’s Project Hope campaign.

In Vaughan, Humanity First Canada, a humanitarian relief organization, is working to bring 300 refugees to Canada by the end of 2016. It has already helped settle more than five dozen.

The organizaton’s chairperson, Aslam Daud, also spoke to volunteers with King 4 Refugees, which is ready to welcome two refugee families to King Township.

“It looks simple because it is. It’s a piece of cake. Don’t be scared. We are living like kings compared to a lot of families in the world,” Daud said.

From a group called New Beginnings in Richmond Hill to Newmarket’s Syrian Refugee Family committee, residents across the region are coming together to welcome refugees with open arms.

“It’s just such a massive issue. It may seem like a drop in the bucket sponsoring one family, but every little bit helps,” Newmarket committee member Claire Prieur said.

“It’s a great example of what people really feel in their hearts.”