Two Syrian refugee families are within days of arriving in Powell River, according to organizers of a local refugee welcoming committee.
“We didn’t know until Monday, June 13, that our refugees are coming,” said Roland Lewis, Welcome Refugee Powell River chairperson. “You only get a few days notice after waiting for months.”
Welcome Refugee Powell River was formed by community leaders and faith-based organizations in Powell River to support efforts to bring refugees to the area.
Sponsored by Westview Baptist Church and Evangel Pentecostal Church, the seven-member Azrak family, who have been living in a Jordanian refugee camp, will fly into Comox on Wednesday, June 22, and arrive via ferry at Westview Terminal that same day.
“The family had been notified they would be receiving airplane tickets,” said Lewis. “We heard from the family, not the government; that gave us a little bit of a heads up. Several days after that the government let us know they had issued tickets and they would be arriving.”
According to Lewis, a second family of six members sponsored by Hands Across the Water: Powell River Refugee Sponsorship Group, organized by Church of Assumption, is supposed to arrive on Sunday, June 26.
The two families are 13 of more than 27,000 Syrian refugees to arrive in Canada since the humanitarian crisis resulting from the Syrian war came under international attention.
Local filmmaker Claudia Medina was instrumental in calling on Powell River to welcome refugees into the community. In September she rallied supporters on the corner of Marine Avenue and Alberni Street in a public show of support. The next step, she said, is for the broader community to be there to help people transition to a new reality.
“The ones who are settling in with a little bit more ease are the people who are welcomed into these small cities by these groups,” said Medina. “It’s a softer landing for people.”
Medina added that the sponsorship groups have helped to set a tone of compassion and understanding. She said she attended some of the larger group meetings held by Welcome Refugee Powell River and left impressed with the level of organization.
Powell River sponsorship groups are fully prepared, authorized to deal with refugees, who are deemed vulnerable, and have a plan in place to ease the transition, said Lewis.
Because refugees are deemed vulnerable, there are many small details that have to be put together, he said.
“How much money do you give them when they step off the plane?” he said. “You have to set up chequing accounts, we have to get them registered with their social insurance number, driver’s licence, and ESL and introduce them to the community. Shopping is different here; we have to have a translator.”
The Azrak family will not stop and greet people off the ferry because they will have been in transit for about 30 hours, added Lewis.
“It would be nice if people lined the ferry terminal roadway with signs and flags, welcoming them to Powell River,” he said.
The family will arrive Wednesday from Comox on the 8:20 pm ferry.
