Multicultural groups planning for hundreds of Syrian refugees

Multicultural organizations across New Brunswick are moving quickly to put in place support networks as hundreds of Syrian refugees could be placed in the province before the end of the year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government has committed to taking in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year but there are still very few details about how the plan will work.

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Immigration Minister John McCallum did not release any details on Thursday about the plan to resettle the refugees. But he said there will be more details on the settlement plans in coming days.

Lisa Bamford De Gante, the executive director of the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, said her staff and volunteers are getting ready for a variety of potential settlement plans.

"We understand they are coming, what we need to determine is how and what will the role of all of the partners be," said Bamford De Gante.

There are multicultural associations in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John that all work with resettling refugees.

Based on the 25,000 refugees that are expected to arrive in Canada by the end of December and the share of refugees the three New Brunswick organizations receive each year normally, the three cities could each see roughly 300 individuals arrive in the next few weeks.

That influx is pushing the associations to ramp up the services that they can deliver.

The first task is to assemble a team of Arabic interpreters and also to recruit and train more people who can work as interpreters when the refugees arrive in the province.

The next step is to line up housing for the refugees.

Justin Ryan, the public education and communications co-ordinator at the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton area (MAGMA), said there are opportunities for others to help out in many other roles.

Ryan said they could use volunteers for people to offer to be paired with refugees to be a support system.

"If you come here from a hot country and it is like, wow it is snowing outside. You need some support and encouragement to just go down to the grocery store or to have a coffee or do something like that and to avoid the depression that can go naturally with the post-traumatic stress," he said.

"Just having somebody to talk to, just having a friend that can be there a few times a week to chat with and give advice and support on what living in Canada is all about. One of the things that we take for granted is, what it is to live a Canadian lifestyle."

Public meetings

Municipalities and local organizations are holding information sessions to let people know how they can help with the refugee settlement.

A public meeting is being held on Monday evening at Edith Cavell School in Moncton.

The meeting will include a panel of people representing the three greater Moncton municipalities, immigration lawyers, the multicultural association, churches and the Red Cross.

"What we are going to do is give people a better understanding of what is involved," Ryan said.

Another meeting for people interested in sponsoring refugees will be held in Woodstock on Sunday afternoon.

Several local churches are already involved but organizers looking for other volunteers and a volunteer co-ordinator.

Meanwhile, work has started at Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown to potentially house Syrian refugees at Camp Argonaut. The site was used to house hundreds of Kosovar refugees in 1999.

Private contractors were at Camp Argonaut installing and repairing windows, doors, and doing general maintenance.

A military official said the base was ready "to do everything they can to contribute to a 'Whole of Government' effort to assist the Syrian refugees."

Surge in refugees

The possible surge in refugees is significantly above what the three multicultural associations are used to coping with in a given year.

In Fredericton, the association helped 84 government-assisted refugees from seven countries in 2014. It also served about 968 people with services to help with permanent residency.

Dealing with such an increase in people will mean these organizations will need access to more resources, said Bamford De Gante.

When looking back at the Kosovo refugees in 1999, Bamford De Gante said many of those individuals stayed in New Brunswick.

She said the refugees tend to feel welcomed when they arrived in the province.

"In Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John, we have received government assisted refugees for many years, for over 20 years, in each of our cities and the communities recognize that refugees, people came because of what happened in their country it doesn't change who they are or how they can contribute to this country."