Families under siege: The hidden costs of the refugee crisis
Published: 1 Jun 2016
Sharmarke Mohamed is a refugee advocate and an organiser for migrant justice. He is Somali-born and resides on the traditional territories of Coast Salish First Nations People. This piece was originally published by Telesur on 15 May 2016. It is reprinted here with permission, and has been lightly edited for style.
As the world celebrates the International Day of Families, the growing refugee crisis is fracturing families that were left behind.
May 15 is The International Day of Families, according to the United Nations, an opportunity to highlight different areas of interest and importance to families—and a day to remember those forced by war and poverty to bring their families to new lands.
Imagine that you are at home with your family. Your mother is really worried and your grandfather wants to go to the police. Why? Because you have not seen your partner in two weeks.
Then you hear that your partner has been detained by the police. The police start threatening your family and start surveillance on your house, while still holding your partner. You have no answers, but you hear that they are accused of having given an anti-government lecture at a university. Your grandfather has been tipped off that now they will be coming for you because you had been working with some of your friends as a part of a small political movement.
They were trying to get better schools and better health care for many others like you. They protested, mobilised and organized demonstrations. And they have all disappeared.
Now imagine you are in your bedroom. You hear a lot of noise in the living room. It sounds like people are banging on the door. The security forces are coming to get you. Your grandfather tells you to run out the back and escape and leave everything and the children behind; the security forces take everyone, including kids.
This scenario represents one of many stories told by refugees in Canada and around the planet. Today there are 60 million displaced people in the world. What they have in common is that they all have families and due to forced migration many of them will be separated. For instance, low-skill temporary workers, such as caregivers, come and take care of our babies in Canada but they cannot bring their own children with them.
Even once they have the right to sponsor their families, it might take up to ten years of paperwork and long delays to make reunification a reality. Mothers can’t go back due to lack of funds and children can’t come even for a temporary visit until the immigration process is complete. Therefore, for a decade, the children will grow and develop, but they won’t know their mothers.
Some families are more fortunate, but many more are not. When children are reunited with their parents, they not only face the challenges of learning a new language, culture shock and identity crisis (especially during adolescence), but also discover that they don’t know their own mothers and must start building a relationship all over again.
Families can remain divided even when they are sponsored and arrive in Canada. Couples grow apart. Some relationships even break down because of the lengthy wait. Due to the closure of some Canadian visa offices and the serious lack of capacity and resources at the ones remaining open, the already long wait for families to be united again is now even longer.
At the Canadian Council for Refugees, where I serve as a member of the executive committee, we have been advocating for family reunification and sharing stories of families that been divided.
As detailed in our report, “We Need Express Entry Family Reunification,” Marina Noor, a Somali mother resides with two of her children in Canada, while her husband and 13-year-old son are refugees in Pakistan. They have been trying to reunite since 2011.
“I am spending my life over here and he is spending his life over there and we are in a limbo situation, struggling to get through everyday,” Noor says. The long process and lengthy immigration requirements such as DNA testing is a cost that is difficult for many to afford hard-to-find money, and dire situations arising for separated families outside of Canada are taking a toll on the mental health of families that are longing to be united with their loved ones.
The new government has announced a commitment to make family reunification one of Canada’s core immigration priorities. This would be a way for Canada to really increase its burden-sharing and better fulfill our historic Canadian commitment to protecting vulnerable people as expressed in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
In April, Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s first Somali Member of Parliament, addressed the Canadian parliament urging country’s representatives to reject ideas that criminalise refugees and migrants. “Under the Geneva Conventions, those fleeing persecution are eligible for asylum but they often face many obstacles. Asylum seekers are not criminals. They are human beings in need of protection and assistance and deserving respect,” Hussen told the parliament during a public address. “I urge the Canadian government to provide leadership and work with our international partners to ensure that those fleeing persecution have safe passage to countries that may grant them the protections they are entitled to under international law.”
A renewed commitment to family reunification measures would be especially important for African refugees, particularly Somalis, in light of Kenya’s recent decision to close the world’s largest refugee camp in Dadaab. Currently, we are witnessing an ongoing migrant crisis as young people risk their lives on flimsy boats to cross the seas in search of safety. Most likely they also have families who face similar struggles they have in their home countries. Families in the widest definition of the word—extended family that is precious and for whom there is a deep sense of responsibility. If there had been changes in the past to the lengthy process and significant increased capacity at visa offices, perhaps some young people who sadly lost their lives on the high seas might now be rejoicing with their families in Canada or, at least, waiting with hope in another country knowing that they will soon be reunited with their family.