Agencies barred from sponsoring refugees following a program integrity investigation by the Department of Immigration believe they were wrongly placed on a blacklist leaked on Tuesday. While some consider taking legal action, others point to the program’s nebulous and difficult-to-enforce regulations.
After the revelations made by The duty Monday about sponsoring organizations that have benefited from their activities, the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) released to the media the complete list of the 18 organizations that are deemed responsible for have made money through sponsorship or provided “false or misleading documents” and who will be barred from filing in the current intake process, which will end on February 16.
” It tires me. I don’t know how the government sees us as thieves, but I’m a doctor and a leader of this community, and I can tell you that we did everything to help them. [les personnes parrainées] “, indicated to the Duty Raja Chéhayeb, president of the Canadian Druze Society of Quebec, an organization that is on the list.
The one who took care of his sponsorship files, Dina Yaziji, is an immigration consultant who also takes care of those of the Orthodox Church of Saint George, another organization which is prohibited from sponsoring for the moment. For her, the list is one of “reprisals”. “The ministry is hounding immigration consultants,” she laments. We have to defend our reputation, and it is not acceptable that he scandalizes people in this way. We’ll get an answer somewhere from our lawyers, in due course. »
Blame and Confusion
Mme Yaziji maintains that she is accused of having been paid for sponsorships, but she explains that she was only paid for her consulting activities, which is legal. At the first stage of the process, i.e. the undertaking application submitted to the Ministère de l’Immigration du Québec, it is indeed forbidden to collect fees, but this is permitted when it comes to carrying out strictly immigration procedures. with the federal government. “The ministry confused everything,” she says.
The consultant acknowledges that in the past she has been able to collect donations from refugees and the wider community on behalf of the churches and organizations she serves. However, they would have been deposited in an external account and would not have served his personal interests or those of the organizations. “Everything we took as donations, we used it to sponsor very poor families,” said Dina Yaziji, who adds that she provided the statements of account to prove her statements. Twenty families would thus have been sponsored, out of a total of 1,200 files submitted by Mr.me Yaziji since 2015-2016. According to her, the whole process was public and known and did not seem to be a problem.
The consultant details other allegations that she says she has adequately refuted with MIFI officials. In the end, the latter will have discouraged her from sponsoring, and she will stop processing any files after settling those that remain pending. “It’s all overwhelming. […] The government claims to defend the goal of the program, but in reality, we have lost that goal. The department is now doing everything it can to stop people from continuing instead of focusing on writing and communicating regulations well and being transparent and collaborative. »
The end of sponsorship?
The Armenian Catholic Community of Montreal is also one of the 18 organizations at fault. Joined to his church, the priest Georges Zabarian claims to have nothing to reproach himself for. “We didn’t take a penny from anyone. Why are we on the list? I don’t know,” he said, indicating that he hadn’t filed any files in the past two years. “But we don’t accept that, and we’ll respond with a timely letter.” »
Mr. Zabarian claims to have done business with a consultant for the processing of sponsorship files, and maintains that the amount of the security deposit, which was advanced by a sponsor, was then fully reimbursed. No donation was collected from the family of refugees, he assured. “We don’t keep the money. It’s very transparent. »
The Transcultural Educational Association (AEC), a Sherbrooke organization that has sponsored a large number of Afghan families in recent years, would like to be able to continue, but it is prevented from doing so for this year since it is also on the list of 18. “We are counting on the government,” says Shah Ismatullah Habibi, director of the AEC. “These are misunderstandings. I can’t say anything about the future, but I’m confident”, he simply told the Duty.
In the office of the Minister of Immigration, Jean Boulet, it is specified that we had “valid and sufficient reasons” to exclude the organizations concerned. They were informed of the decision beforehand and had the opportunity to refute the reasons in writing. “We have a duty as a government to protect the integrity of our immigration system. »