Refugee organization needs ‘tremendous amount of help’

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This article was published 30/09/2015 (3444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rita Chahal is grateful the Selinger government has promised financial support, but she wants other potential donors to know their help is still very much needed by the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council.

On Tuesday, Premier Greg Selinger said the Manitoba government will provide financial assistance for the paralegal service — called the In Canada Protection Program — provided by the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council. The paralegal service helps refugees fill out their refugee claim forms within the federal government’s 15-day window.

Chahal, the non-profit organization’s executive director, said it isn’t yet known how much funding the provincial government is prepared to provide.

Selinger told the Free Press the government will decide the amount of that financial support after it meets with the agency’s representatives to determine its needs and that a meeeting could be held this week.

“We have not heard anything directly from either the premier’s office or the senior bureaucrats,” Chahal said on Wednesday. “I did take the liberty of contacting the person who called me (Tuesday) to see if there was any news or updates so I could prepare my report for the board meeting next week but I haven’t heard back from her.”

Chahal said her organization needs “a tremendous amount of help” — $200,000 to $250,000 annually — to keep the paralegal service in place and to restore services in the privately sponsored refugee claimants, the second part of the In Canada Protection Program that had to be cut to save the paralegal service.

“The other people we’ve asked for funding from, they’re calling and asking ‘how much the province is giving you because that will impact our applications to other people.’ I don’t want this to become that sort of situation,” Chahal said.

“We are looking for long-term sustainable funding for these programs, not just a band-aid solution and that’s what I indicated to our other potential funders.”

She said an application has been also made to the Winnipeg Foundation, which provided enough funding to save the paralegal program last year.

“Part of the challenge will be to remind people who would like to consider donate, whatever they can do will help us enhance the service,” Chahal said.

Chahal said the agency’s paralegal situation has become even more important since the Syrian crisis escalated and more refugees looking to escape the dangers of their homeland have been seeking asylum in Canada. The paralegal program has been in dire financial straits since 2013.

“As long as Canada is a signatory to the UN agreements, we will always have refugee claimants. As long as Canada opens its doors to refugees, we will always have this need,” Chahal said.

Selinger said Tuesday the assistance for the paralegal program will come from the provincial government’s “envelope of resources” that has been earmarked for refugee supports of $1.2 million.

The Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council operates the Welcome Place, which resettles and shelters government-assisted refugees. It used to shelter any refugee claimants until the federal government ordered the agency to stop housing anyone but government-assisted refugees.

Once a refugee claim is determined, asylum-seekers can receive housing and income assistance and interim health benefits.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca