Michael and Vera Ryan, co-ordinators of the Osoyoos Refugee Project, are thrilled that the long awaited Syrian refugee family their group is sponsoring is expected in Osoyoos by Saturday. (Richard McGuire file photo)
A Syrian refugee family sponsored by a local group to come to Osoyoos is expected to arrive in Montreal around midnight this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Osoyoos Refugee Project has exceeded its fundraising goal by more than $7,000 and a house is now ready for the family.
Mohamad Rabee Tabanjat, his wife Aya, daughter Fatima, 8, and son Samer, 6, are expected to be in the Okanagan on Friday or Saturday.
“We are totally thrilled that they are arriving,” said Michael Ryan, a former Osoyoos councillor who has spearheaded the project with his wife Vera.
The Ryans only received the news on Monday morning of the family’s imminent arrival.
“We’re just so excited and we’re happy that we have the house all ready and that we have exceeded our fundraising goal,” said Ryan. “We’re happier than a kid at Christmas.”
The Osoyoos Refugee Project, a community volunteer group, has been organizing the effort through St. Anne’s Catholic Parish.
Fundraising began informally early in October and an organized campaign to reach a target of $30,000 was launched in November. As of last week, $37,833 had been raised.
The family was scheduled to fly out of Beirut, Lebanon at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday, spending several hours at Amman, Jordan before taking another plane to Montreal with a two-hour stopover in Lisbon, Portugal for refueling.
Ryan said he anticipates the family will then continue to Penticton via Vancouver, based on the experience of a Syrian family that arrived in Oliver recently.
Volunteers from the refugee project, including one or two Arabic speakers, plan to meet the family at the airport when their arrival time is known.
The family has been living in Lebanon since escaping war-torn Syria, although Canadian and United Nations officials have provided few details about the family’s background to the local committee.
Ryan said the group has not yet decided what to do with the funds raised in excess of the $30,000 the family is expected to need for resettlement and living expenses for their first year.
“We had a brief conversation about that, but I think we want to keep our options open,” he said, adding that it could be used to assist with family reunification or possibly for another group needing assistance to sponsor a Syrian family.
The Ryans said last week they expected to receive as little as 48 hours notice before the family arrived.
“We are ready and people who have been away have returned,” he said last Thursday. “We’ve had good news in terms of the money that we’ve raised and how prepared we are, but the main act hasn’t started yet.”
The committee has arranged to use the Town of Osoyoos bus, but has backup plans for another bus if it is in use then.
Meanwhile, Interior Health says it has been working through December in anticipation of the healthcare needs of Syrian refugees coming to the Interior health region.
Over the next three months, the Interior region expects up to 400 Syrian refugees. Typically the region sees an average of about 1,000 refugees arrive in a year.
“Although basic health screening takes place prior to the refugees’ arrival in Canada, at the local level we have to be prepared to deliver healthcare services once they arrive in our region,” said Leslie Bryant MacLean, program manager, population health in a news release. “Immediate healthcare needs will range from immunizations to access to medications and mental health supports. We have been working to ensure providers have access to the information they need to provide care in a culturally sensitive manner, while also addressing challenges such as language barriers.”
The Interior region receives about 11,000 newcomers to the area each year including refugees, immigrants and temporary workers.
During the federal election campaign, the Liberals promised to bring in 25,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees before the end of 2015.
After they were in office and officials informed them of the logistical hurdles, that number was revised downwards to 10,000 refugees by the end of the year with the balance of 15,000 arriving in the first two months of 2016.
While the government failed to reach even the 10,000-person target by New Years, that target is expected to be reached this week.
Ryan said he thinks the initial commitment was made in the heat of the election campaign, but the more important consideration is whether the government is doing the best it can to bring the refugees here in a timely manner so that they are looked after properly.
“The welcome they get and the numbers that we receive regardless of the timeframe is the bottom line for me,” he said.
He acknowledged that the missed December deadline turned out to be a blessing because some agencies were having difficulties arranging housing and other logistics.
A rental home for the family in Osoyoos has now been nicely renovated, he said, and groups and individuals have contributed furniture and other items for the family.
The Osoyoos Quilters Guild has already donated the first quilt they are making for the family and Ryan described it as “just gorgeous.”
“I think (the family) is going to go around pinching themselves thinking that somehow they are hallucinating,” he said.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
