Since Tuesday, the organization headed by Carolina Manganelli, Action Réfugiés Montréal, can once again submit sponsorship files to the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI). This is not the case for 18 other organizations blacklisted by Quebec for having “provided false or misleading information or documents”.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“Hallelujah! “says M.me Manganelli, whose organization has “passed the test”. “We are working hard day and night to be able to submit our 20 applications by February 16. »
The Government of Quebec’s Collective Sponsorship Program for Refugees Abroad had been suspended in October 2020, the time to conduct investigations into the integrity of certain groups, which led to the exclusion for a year of 18 organizations.
The Press took stock of the situation with Carolina Manganelli, Stephan Reichhold, head of the Round Table of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants (TCRI), and Sylvain Thibault, whose group sponsors Congolese refugees in Uganda.
How many undertaking applications are deemed eligible in 2022?
Groups of two to five people and organizations wishing to sponsor refugees will be able to submit a maximum of 825 applications by February 16. “There is great enthusiasm,” says Stephan Reichhold, head of the TCRI. It is certain that there will be more requests than places available. »
How will applicants be chosen?
By lottery. “That is really heartbreaking for the groups that are in contact with these families, whether they are in Turkey, Lebanon or Africa, who have a lot of hope,” comments Mr. Reichhold. In two months, if the files are not drawn, it’s terrible to announce that. » Mme Manganelli adds that she tries not to think about it too much. “We are doing everything we can on our side and we hope to be lucky. »
Was the government right to suspend requests to investigate certain groups?
“It is a good thing that this investigation is being carried out because, as in everything, there are always abuses, unfortunately, explains the director of Action Réfugiés Montréal. We are not surprised, but we are happy to have the right, once again this year, to submit requests. »
Many organizations that were investigated had emerged with the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016, recalls Stephan Reichhold.
Overnight, it went from 500 to 5,000 requests. There were serious shortcomings, it was a bit of nonsense.
Stephan Reichhold, Head of the Round Table of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants
“There are some lawyers and consultants who know the system well and have found loopholes. And they started selling places to well-off refugee families to make money. And there was no cap. So they were filing hundreds and hundreds of applications. They made millions of dollars with it.
“The spirit of the program is that Quebec citizens collect donations to help a refugee family who is in misery, when what we saw were hundreds of Syrian millionaires who had enough money to come here as investors. So it completely went wrong. »
Are the problems fixed?
A major cleaning has been done, assures the head of the Roundtable of organizations serving refugees and immigrants. “We hope that the integrity of the program will be respected. But it’s very difficult for the government to trace the source of the money that will allow the group here to sponsor refugees. »
How long does it take between an accepted application and the arrival of refugees in Quebec?
At least two years. “It has to go faster,” insists Sylvain Thibault, who sponsors refugees in Uganda. “Our files submitted in January 2020 are dragging on. We are in daily contact, almost, with these people. We see what COVID is doing there. We see that the schools are closed, that young people no longer go to school. They will arrive here, we do not know when. We hope they will arrive in 2022, this summer. But they will arrive even worse than they were. And we, as soon as we submitted the file, we would have been ready to receive them the following week. »
Excluded organizations
Here is the list of organizations excluded for one year: Christian Assembly for the Awakening of Nations, Transcultural Educational Association, Muslim Association of North America in Laval (AMAN-Laval), Turkish Muslim Association of Montreal, Canadian Youth Center, Community Armenian Catholic Church of Montreal, Shaare Zedek Congregation, Evangelical Arab Baptist Church of Montreal, Antioch Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, St. Nicholas of Antioch Orthodox Church, St. George’s Orthodox Church of Montreal, St. Ivan Rilsky Bulgarian Church, IQRA Foundation, Message of Islam Foundation, Al Ansar Mosque, Greater Montreal Refugee Sponsorship, Regrouping of Moroccans in Canada and Canadian Druze Society of Quebec.
Source: Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration