Dozens of asylum seekers continue to wait outside for hours in front of the Services Québec offices in Old Montreal, to the great dismay of local merchants.
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“I’ve been waiting for two hours,” slips Wanner Louma, who just arrived in Quebec from Haiti last week.
He was patiently waiting for his turn Wednesday morning to make his first request for social assistance at the government office which opened at 10 a.m.
Photo Anouk Lebel
In the huge queue which stretched for tens of meters surrounding the building, Nihad Kapli, originally from Bangladesh, found the time long.
“I have to bring documents to complete my application,” explains the 30-year-old man, who arrived in Quebec in January.
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A real joke
“Last week, there were even more people. It was the beginning of the month so people were coming to pick up their checks. It’s stressful for people to wait like that,” notes an employee on site who prefers to remain anonymous to keep his job.
Youssef Shanab, owner of the Shnoopi restaurant opposite the Services Québec offices, can no longer stand the dozens of asylum seekers waiting outside.
Photo Anouk Lebel
The crowds are hurting the business of the Shnoopi café-restaurant which opened in a premises opposite ten months ago.
“It’s a real joke. We have almost reached an information office, a waiting room. There are people who come in to ask to print documents. “There was even someone who asked me if this was where we could submit our application!” rages owner Youssef Shanab, who fears opening his terrace for the summer.
He sometimes sees people sleeping outside in front of an old art gallery, which eventually closed due to the human tide, he says.
Better than before
However, the problem was resolved after the passage of Newspaper in November, when the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity had fitted out a mezzanine to increase the reception capacity inside.
“It’s not sufficient. It’s overflowing,” denounces another neighboring trader on condition of anonymity. He can’t believe this “inhumane” treatment which has lasted for months.
Photo Anouk Lebel
He believes that the government could rent more space in the building where his office is located and where several premises have been vacant since the start of the pandemic.
The building manager, however, believes that the problem has been resolved since the addition of a waiting room upstairs. “It has nothing to do with what it was before,” argues Arthur Fouasso, operations coordinator for Gestion Georges Coulombe.
At the time of writing, the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity had not responded to our questions about the monster queue which continues to stretch in front of its office.