(Ottawa) Canada has yet to reunite a single family with loved ones trying to flee conflict in Sudan and diaspora groups are demanding the federal government do more to end a civil war that has lasted for year.
Fighting that broke out last April between militias in the northeast African country forced at least 8.5 million people to flee – what the United Nations considers the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. the world.
And so far, Canada has done little to stop it, according to Imad Satti, director of the Edmonton-based Canadian Sudanese Communities Association.
“We did nothing, we simply expressed our concern, which does not solve any problem,” he stressed. There is not enough pressure from the international committee, including Canada, to end this war. »
Sudan is grappling with a “catastrophic situation” and on the brink of a man-made famine, Edem Wosornu, a U.N. spokesperson, told the Security Council last month.
“There are reports of mass graves, gang rapes, indiscriminate and shocking attacks in densely populated areas and many other horrors,” she said. We are failing the Sudanese people. »
Canada expressed concern about the security situation last spring and flew its citizens in. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly visited Kenya to support neighboring countries in their efforts for peace.
But since then, Canada has avoided sanctioning warlords or publicly denouncing countries that helped fuel the conflict. Mr. Satti wants Canada to do both – and even call on the UN to intervene in the hope of restoring order.
Canada has instead focused on humanitarian aid, setting aside $165 million last summer for Sudan and neighboring countries hosting refugees.
Reunification program criticized
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced a family reunification program late last year to allow people fleeing Sudan to reunite with their families in Canada with the means to provide them with financial support.
Families say, however, that the program requires paperwork that is impossible to pull together in a war zone and that sponsors must have $18,100 in cash plus a minimum annual income of $51,128 to sponsor a family of four.
Mr. Satti, whose organization represents Sudanese groups across Canada, said some people had unused cash in a bank account while they tried to help their loved ones complete paperwork. Others, he said, send money to help their loved ones stay alive, depleting their savings.
Ottawa changed the program to allow biometric screening, such as fingerprinting, after people’s applications were accepted, but Satti said it is still expensive and often dangerous to reach one of the neighboring countries from Sudan to visit a Canadian consulate.
The program began accepting applications on February 27, and Ottawa said that as of March 25, it had received 680 applications involving approximately 1,500 people who met the processing criteria.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not say how many applications the department had received that had not yet passed “completeness checks” and added that it had not yet approved any applications.
Minister Miller said the program, which will accept up to 3,250 applications, was designed with Sudanese diaspora groups, and is open to improvement. He also doesn’t expect anyone to arrive in Canada anytime soon.
“We plan to welcome the Sudanese fleeing the war at the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” he said on March 27. It is very important to talk about what has become a forgotten war for many of us. »