To Sponsor or not to Sponsor: The Refugee Support Mission of St. John’s

Sponsoring and supporting refugees has been part of the mission of St. John’s since the 1980s when the parish responded to the plight of the Vietnamese boat people by sponsoring a family from that country. Since then, the Refugee Support Group and individual parishioners have worked to resettle families and individuals from China, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Myanmar/Burma and Nigeria. From time to time we have also assisted refugee or refugee claimant families already in Victoria, for example, from Sierra Leone and the Middle East. As a faith community which reaches out to others unconditionally, we have worked with refugees from different religious traditions, including Moslems and Christians from various denominations, and those without religious affiliation.

The result has been that these people have had the opportunity to get a new start in life and are now active and respected members of the communities where they live. Although it has sometimes been difficult for parents of refugee families to find stable employment, the children of several have gone on to university or qualified in skilled trades. At the same time, some have gone out of their way to celebrate their cultures, and to make them accessible to others. In particular, I think of the Ero family from Nigeria with their story telling and dramatic traditions, and the Sama family from Sierra Leone with their drumming and dancing performances. Some families, too, have committed themselves to using their gifts to initiate and support projects in their homelands. Eric Sama from Sierra Leone, for instance, is actively involved in organizing financial support for a school in that country, where he was originally a teacher.

In each of these sponsorships, we at St. John’s have been blessed in the sense of learning so much about human resolve and the courage shown by people who have faced danger and privation and been uprooted against their will. We are fortunate to have had the privilege of working with them.

The process of sponsoring refugees can be both a fulfilling and a frustrating process. Typically, we support “convention” refugees who are off shore, in a third country, sometimes in a camp, sometimes in the community at large. So it was with Nang Roi, who we have most recently supported; she was a refugee from Burma among a group living in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. To qualify for support an individual or family has to be registered as having refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Approval of a sponsorship requires that the sponsoring group must undertake to support the refugees for at least a year after their arrival in Canada, on the basis of a settlement plan which is designed to ensure their material and personal welfare. Refugees may come to our attention because Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) are seeking a sponsor for a family already approved for entry to this country. For example, two families from Northeastern Africa that we sponsored in the past were approved under the “Women at Risk Program”, designed to give refugee status to single women or single mother families where there is danger to those people in the camps or communities where they are residing. In these cases the process of sponsorship approval is often quick (a matter of months). The cases may be challenging because the refugees have little English, education or work skills on their arrival, and require a great deal of support in resettling in Canada. In other cases sponsorships may result from the plight of individuals or families brought to our attention by a family member already in Canada, or by Canadians who have had contract with the refugees in a third country. In these instances the process usually takes longer (from one to four years or more), as both the sponsorship and an application by the refugees for entry have to be approved by the often over-extended human resources of CIC. On occasion this can be a frustrating experience, as with our attempts over four years to sponsor a family of six from Sierra Leone, when the Canadian government decides in mid-stream, but without informing potential sponsors, that the country of origin is now safe for the family to return to. When the bid to sponsor such a family or individual is successful, resettlement is often assisted by the presence and support of family members or friends already here.

Those of us involved in refugee sponsorship and support at St. John’s are anxious to see this part of our parish’s mission continue. We are working with the Diocesan Refugee Committee to revive the sponsorship agreement which the Diocese held for many years but which fell into abeyance in recent years. Whether or not that happens, the opportunities for the parish to sponsor refugees independently are there, and we will be considering new initiatives in the months ahead. It is, we feel, important, that, as we look after our own material welfare at St. John’s we do not lose sight of our mission to reach out to people in need, wherever they may be. We would like to thank the clergy and wardens for their continuing support, and all of those parishioners who have supported this part of the church’s mission over the years.

For Nang Roi the important features of sponsorship by St. John’s were:

A concern for my spiritual needs and the gift of family and friendship by those who reached out to me; a supportive experience for resettlement and coming to terms with the challenges of Canadian culture; and many good opportunities to improve my English.