Political refugees who thought they would find better living conditions in Quebec find themselves, in the middle of a housing crisis, living crammed into unsanitary apartments for which they pay a fortune.
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“There are seven of us in a 4 1/2. There is my wife, my daughter, me and two other families,” says Lalit Kumar, 44, who fled Punjab to India for his safety and that of his family.
Based in the Parc-Extension district of Montreal, the man who arrived barely two months ago pays $800 per month for the room he shares with his child and his wife, pregnant with their second child. In total, the apartment costs $2,400, electricity included.
- Listen to the interview with Clara Loiseau, journalist at Journal de Montréal on Alexandre Dubé’s microphone via QUB:
“The living room has been transformed into a bedroom so that each family has its own room,” he adds, in Punjabi, translated by an interpreter.
Having just obtained his work permit, he hopes to find a job as quickly as possible to be able to move his family out of this accommodation located in the poorest neighborhood in Canada where 80% of residents live in precarious situations.
“But the rents are very expensive,” translates for him Amina Saman, who works at the Parc-Extension Action Committee (CAPE).
Broken dream
As with Mr. Kumar, the Canadian dream of Shofiqul Islam, 36, is increasingly turning into a nightmare. Arriving barely a month ago, the father who left his wife and young daughter in Bangladesh can only afford a 3 1/2 semi-basement apartment for $1,600 per month, which he sharing with three other people.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Rafikul Islam
“We have no privacy, we have mice, cockroaches and we each pay $400 per month. We were told that Canada was the best country, and ultimately, we are far from that,” he says, discouraged.
Shofiqul Islam, 36, a political refugee who arrived from Bangladesh barely a month ago, shares a 3 1/2 with three other people, paying $400 a month.
Photo Clara Loiseau
One of his roommates, Rafikul Islam, also 36 years old, is also looking forward to being able to leave this accommodation he found thanks to a contact.
Here we can see a small part of Shofiqul Islam’s room, which he shares with another refugee.
Photo provided by Shofiqul Islam
“We have difficulty breathing at home, we cannot stay here,” continues the man who also arrived a month ago from Bangladesh.
Rafikul Islam, 36, a political refugee who arrived from Bangladesh barely a month ago, shares a 3 1/2 with three other people, paying $400 a month.
Photo Clara Loiseau
Victims of the housing crisis
Saini Kamal and his wife, originally from India, share a studio in Parc-Extension with another couple. Each couple pays $500 per month.
“It’s really very hard,” explains the man before rushing off to collect some food from the neighborhood food bank.
Photo Clara Loiseau
For CAPE employees, these types of testimonies are unfortunately heard every day, explains M.me Saman.
Amina Saman works at the Parc-Extension Action Committee and allows refugees from Punjab or Bangladesh, in particular, to obtain help when they have housing problems.
Photo Clara Loiseau
“They are suffering a lot. There are people with children, they don’t know where to go, they have nothing to eat. Many are waiting for work permits and in the meantime, they are lost,” she laments.
André Trépanier, community organizer at CAPE, reminds us that it is not them who should be blamed.
“They are victims of the housing crisis, the Quebec government must find solutions rather than blaming these people who are being exploited,” he denounces.
Refugees are extorted of money
Vulnerable, refugees are sometimes victims of people who try to extract money from them by promising them housing and a better life.
“We have no money, we have no job, we have no house, and when “agents” [personnes qui promettent d’aider à trouver un logement] do that, our life becomes hell,” says a 32-year-old refugee who fled Punjab, India, with her husband.
Upon their arrival in Montreal in January 2024, the couple was hosted by distant family members. Barely a month later, they had to leave because the apartment became too small.
Rehana Joseph, from CAPE, allows refugees from Punjab or Bangladesh, in particular, to obtain help when they have housing problems.
Photo Clara Loiseau
She and her husband then moved in with other relatives. Unable to live with two other couples and a child, they decided to find their own accommodation.
“I started looking on Facebook Marketplace, but either people don’t answer me or I don’t understand because I don’t speak French yet. So I hired an agent to help me,” explains the woman who asked to withhold her name for fear of reprisals.
“Agents” at the temple
It was in the Sikh temple where she went to pray that she was given the agent’s contact details.
“But he’s trying to take advantage of us. He wastes our time, asks us to pay him $300 for each apartment he shows us and wants to force us to pay a deposit for the apartments,” says the young woman.
This process is, however, illegal in Quebec, recalls André Trépanier, of the Parc-Extension Action Committee (CAPE)
Other refugees in the neighborhood have the number of the same agent who also offers them apartments, confirms a man also from Punjab.
For the young woman who is still waiting for her work visa, this situation is becoming more and more stressful.
“Now that we are being asked to leave the accommodation, I don’t know where we will end up. Probably in the street,” she fears.
Not a unique case
Rehana Joseph, who works at the Parc-Extension Action Committee (CAPE), also claims to have lost more than $7,000 when she arrived in Quebec.
“When I asked for my money back, I was told: ‘there’s nothing you can do, I don’t want to give it to you’,” she says.
For her colleague, Amina Saman, this is unfortunately not surprising.
“They abuse vulnerable people who need to put a roof over their heads,” she laments, recalling that you should never give any money before having an apartment.
Die or flee: the cruel dilemma of refugees from Asia before arriving here
Lalit Kumar
Photo Clara Loiseau
Lalit Kumar, 44, left his native Punjab, India, at the end of January.
“I come from the Sikh community, and my wife is Christian. We had a lot of problems, we received death threats. We were not safe,” says Lalit Kumar, 44, in Punjabi.
In the country, the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities are particularly persecuted and inter-religious marriages are not well regarded,” explains Catherine Viens, associate professor at the Canadian Observatory on Humanitarian Crises and Action (OCCAH).
The latter set down his bags in Montreal with his wife, pregnant with their second child, as well as their son, hoping to find a better and, above all, safer life.
Shofiqul Islam and Rafikul Islam
Photo Clara Loiseau
Persecution is also one of the main reasons why several Bangladeshis fled their country, like Shofiqul and Rafikul Islam.
“I was a trader and where I lived, I was being extorted for money by a sort of government mafia. Every month, they came to ask me for a large sum and when I did not give them, they beat me,” says Shofiqul Islam, 36, who took more than seven years before deciding to leave his country.
His roommate, Rafikul Islam, chose to leave his country for the same reasons.
“They scare us, threaten to kill us. We can’t stay here,” he explains in Bengali.
Running away from his family
Several other refugees encountered by The newspaper left their country after receiving threats from family members.
“My uncle threatened to kill my wife and me because he wanted our land. He told us he would hunt us down if we stayed here. We were scared and we left,” says Kamal Singh, in Punjabi.
Like him, another woman explained that she had family problems that made her fear for her safety to the point of fleeing her country.