How To Help Tsunami Victims In Pele

Transcription

1 1 Feedback from Discussion Forum New Immigrants from Tsunami Affected Areas (This document is written by the Region of Peel, Social Services Department.) A meeting was organized by Region of Peel, Social Services Department and held on February 15 th with Peel based agencies and organizations that serve new immigrants in Peel. Thirty five people attended representing fifteen NGO s, the two school Boards, funders and other Regional departments. The participants were very pleased to have this opportunity to provide input and to ask questions about the impact of the tsunami on both the people in the affected areas and on service delivery in Peel. They asked that their thanks be conveyed to the Provincial and Federal governments and the Region of Peel for providing the opportunity. Another meeting will be convened to continue the discussion and follow up on the issues identified. What are the anticipated needs of the newcomers? Affordable, suitable housing. Immediate access to health care. In the event of sponsorship break down of a child from Tsunami affected area there will be the need for an alternative care plan and response mechanism to protection the child (ren). Potential Increased role for child welfare system. Family counseling for the newcomers in the longer term, in their own language. Accessible job training, job search and employment skill training. Household items, furnishings, to set up a new home. Language Instruction (LINC) at all levels. Youth workers and other staff in the schools to support the children adjust to school and community. ESL instruction for children in school system. Additional staff in the Multicultural Settlement Workers in School Program. (MSEP program) Social and medical supports for seniors and older adults of the sponsored families. Befriending/ mentoring programs to assist with settlement. Doctors, psychiatrists and medical specialists who speak the language of the newcomers. Trauma and post traumatic stress counseling, delivered by professionals who speak the language of newcomer.

2 2 Need for accessible information on community resources in Peel specifically for the tsunami victims and sponsoring families, could be through a line or web based system. Pre-sponsorship and post-sponsorship awareness guide is essential for both the sponsored and the sponsor to assist the newcomer to anticipate the life ahead of them in their new host country. Families considering sponsoring a relative from the affected regions need access to immediate, current information on the immigration policies. Independent applicant immigrants will need different targeted supports than required by family class immigrants. Lack of required documentation. Many of the existing and potential immigrants both in the skilled and family class category from the Tsunami affected area may not have documentation which may impact the processing of their file and application for community support services What are the local gaps? Inadequate funding levels to current settlement services. Targeted funding from the federal and provincial governments for settlement services and other mainstream services in language assessment and training is crucial to ensuring that resources are in place to settle and integrate these newcomers. Additional ESL staff at the Boards of Education at the assessment stage and teaching level. This will require financial support from senior levels of government since Peel Boards of Education have set their budget for this and the next academic year in an already stretched system. Training for settlement staff. Agency settlement staff is not properly trained to deal with trauma counselling, identification and referrals to appropriate professionals. The number of inland refugees from Tsunami affected areas may increase which will have direct impacts on the Region s Ontario Works and shelter programs. Lack of adequate support services for children including emotional, mental health and special needs support. (particularly in their language.) The current children s mental health system in Peel currently has long waiting lists. The Immigration Settlement Adaptation Program s (ISAP) current eligibility rules prevents current service providers from helping relatives living in Canada support Tsunami victims settling in Canada. Settlement agencies currently providing employment services to landed immigrants and refugees are not eligible for funding for these services from HRSDC and are

3 3 directed to access funding from CIC. Employment supports from HRSDC should be available to all Canadian residents regardless of status. Need for flexibility on eligibility requirements for needs tested services, for Ontario Works, Child Care and Affordable Housing. There is an overall lack of affordable and suitable housing and subsidized housing (waiting list is 8 years) across the Peel region. Lack of knowledge of medical specialists and therapists who speak the languages of the newcomers. Need for inter-ministerial protocols to deal with childcare, children mental health, sponsorship breakdowns, labour market skills and employment supports. What services, networks and protective response strategies exist? Peel is a highly diverse population with established cultural and faith centres. Groups of individuals and community agencies and groups are in a good position to sponsor refugees in Peel if CIC decides to assist refugees in parts of the tsunami affected areas where there is civil unrest. Over 30 agencies in Peel currently serve diverse populations with settlement services. Local community based neighborhood centres offer a broad range of supports with LINC classes, ISAP, NSP, ESL, HOST programs. Well established ethno cultural organizations in Peel that have cultural and language staff for the specific areas of the tsunami, including India Rainbow Community Services of Peel, Muslim Community Services and African Community Services. There is an information system for Peel on line. that could be enhanced by providing funding for specific information and referrals for supports to the tsunami affected newcomers to Canada and/or to the sponsoring families. Multicultural Interagency Group of Peel MIAG, is a strong network of over 100 members of ethno cultural and mainstream organizations addressing needs of newcomers. Peel Multicultural Council has been in existence for 28 years to address the broad settlement issues in Peel. Many settlement staff are themselves immigrants to Canada with a range of professional and personal experiences. Faith groups in Peel play a key role in assisting with basic needs, trauma counseling, networking and support. Region of Peel, Children s Services have child care spaces and subsidy available if eligibility determination issues can be resolved. May ask the province to establish

4 4 specific eligibility criteria for childcare services for sponsored children from the Tsunami affected areas. Canadian Red Cross has experience dealing with victims of natural disasters; which we can learn from and get direction on the support needs of the newcomers. World Vision and Canadian Red Cross should be involved in determining where the donations are going and what level can be kept in Canada to assist newcomers. Outstanding Questions to the Provincial and the Federal Governments The community asked that responses be provided to the following questions: 1. What is meant by fast tracking? 2. Can CIC provide a breakdown of the number of applicants from Tsunami affected areas by source country? 3. Does Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) have any forecasts on the number of new immigration applications from the Tsunami affected areas? 4. Does CIC intend to fast track new additional applications from the Tsunami affected areas including the East Coast of Africa and Indonesia? If yes, what categories does it intend to fast track? 5. Completion of sponsorship applications is very complicated. Will CIC provide assistance? 6. Is CIC fast tracking independent class applications from the Tsunami affected Regions? 7. Is CIC considering start up support for independent class immigrants who have lost everything or almost everything in the Tsunami? 8. Will CIC continue to fast track applications if the principle applicant is now deceased? 9. How is the federal government, CIC, disseminating information on sponsorship and fast tracking to the Eastern African region and Indonesia? 10. Will the fast tracking of sponsored immigrants from the Tsunami affected areas delay the arrival of sponsored immigrants from other parts of the world? 11. Are there any special considerations for assessing Sri Lankan Tsunami immigrants and Indonesian Tsunami immigrants because of the civil wars in those countries and therefore many people affected by the Tsunami may also be able to apply as Convention refugees?

5 5 12. Are you expecting an increase in the number of refugee applications from this region? If so, how many additional refugees are expected and how can settlement agencies and community groups assist? 13. Is CIC considering expediting the process for settlement agencies to sponsor refugees and/or support groups of individuals who are interested in sponsoring refugees? 14. Is Canada working with the UNHCR in identifying refugees from this region? 15. Is CIC considering a change in the definition of the family class category of immigration so that those Tsunami victims without immediate family members in Canada can be sponsored by distant relatives (cousins, uncles etc.)? 16. To assist the Boards of Education in Peel with their planning, can CIC provide the postal codes of the sponsors in the system and the number of children to be sponsored in order to determine the school area and impact?