All it took was one phone call.
Within the hour, it quickly became apparent to the News there was a concerted and determined effort at ground level across Richmond to affect the refugee crisis in Syria.
In particular, religious organizations, bridging faiths around the city, are already well on their way to raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in a desperate bid to sponsor immigration for families fleeing war-torn Syria.
From Gilmore Park United Church in the west to the Peace Mennonite in the north and BC Muslim Association in the east, the drive to help the stricken people of the Middle East is in top gear.
And, as well as asking their respective congregations and communities to dig deep and donate to the cause, they are already in talks to pool their voices and jointly apply pressure on Richmond MP Alice Wong and the federal government to expedite the immigration process for the refugees.
Peace Mennonite lead pastor Tim Kuepfer has even suggested a mass, inter-faith public rally in the city to galvanize their efforts.
“In my sermon on Sunday, I asked the congregation, ‘what can we do to help?’ said Kuepfer.
“I asked if a champion would come forward and lead the cause. One of our congregation, Subrata Chakrabarti, came forward and has volunteered to be coordinator of our mission to sponsor at least one or two families.
“He talked to some people…after the sermon and about seven or eight have pledged donations already…I’m so proud of our congregation.”
Later the same day, the congregation’s intentions were posted on Facebook and a local Iraqi-Canadian family — which is a friend, but not a member, of the church near No. 5 and Bridgeport roads — contacted them, asking how they could help.
“It really is a great neighbourhood effort.”
The church’s Mennonite Central Committee is already instrumental, said Kuepfer, in Lebanon and Syria and has particular expertise in selecting and sponsoring the families over there that are most in need of help.
Kuepfer has been told that an estimated $27,000 to $30,000 is needed to sponsor a family of four from Syria.
Reverend Maggie Watts-Hammond, of Gilmore Park United Church, said her congregation has already donated $5,000 to the Canadian Red Cross in Syria because of the dire nature of the situation.
“We will be holding further fundraising within the congregation over the next few days and we’ve also put out calls to other congregations to try to pool our resources and see what we can all do about sponsoring families from Syria,” said Watts-Hammond.
“We know that the Peace Mennonite congregation has already made a move to sponsor some families and I’m sure there are other congregations across Richmond doing the same. It would be great if we all got together somehow.”
Watts-Hammond said she felt compelled to focus on the refugee crisis in last Sunday’s sermon after hearing people talking on a local bus.
“I overheard them talking about the trouble in Syria and the sentiment was that ‘they should stay at home and fight ISIS,’” she said.
“So, on Sunday, I talked specifically about…the root cause of the trouble in Syria, as I feel many people are misinformed.
“We do have a very mixed congregation, from various backgrounds and parts of the world, and they have a real sense of what it means to leave home in difficult conditions; some of them have lived through wars.
“There is very much an emotional resonance among our congregation with what is going on in Syria right now.”
While acknowledging the tragic picture of the three-year-old Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach has galvanized interest in North America, Watts-Hammond said both she and the church’s outreach and social justice committee have been very aware of the issues surrounding refugees around the globe, including Syria, for some time.
Shawkat Hasan, vice president of social services at the BC Muslim Association on Blundell Road, just east of No. 5 Road, said his organization has set what would appear to be a lofty goal of sponsoring 10 to 15 Syrian refugee families — requiring between $270,000 and $450,000 in funds.
“I’ve just come back from a meeting in Burnaby where other members of the association talked about organizing our efforts to help,” said Hasan on Wednesday, adding that there are several Syrian families in the local Muslim community.
“We have opened a specific account on the BCMA website for people to donate.
“Three years ago, we sponsored three families from Iran who were in the same position and we are now looking at sponsoring up to 15 families from Syria.
“We’ve already had many gestures of goodwill and we are urging people to donate to the cause.”
A bigger problem for Hasan, and for Watts-Hammond and Kuepfer, is how to deal with the federal government in terms of bringing more pressure to bear on the expediting of the immigration process.
“We will raise the $300,000 or more needed to sponsor the families, but we all need to put more pressure on the federal government right now,” added Hasan.
“Many of our community have relatives stuck in Turkey right now and they’re trying to help them.”
About four million Syrians, according to the United Nations, are fleeing, or have fled, their war-torn country into Europe, risking their lives in search of refuge and a new life, with estimates of another 7.6 million displaced.
However, some northern European nations are less willing than others to accommodate the mass exodus, leaving tens of thousands of Syrian families stranded with little hope in the continent’s southern countries, such as Turkey, Greece and Hungary.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other world leaders have come under increased pressure to take in more refugees as the war in Syria continues.
And there have been nationwide calls, from groups such as Unicef, for Canada to expedite the immigration process in a bid to rescue as many refugees as possible.
Refugee advocates say there are a number of changes that could speed things up, including sending more staff to visa posts overseas, increasing resources available for security screening and allowing more Syrians already in Canada to sponsor their families under existing immigration programs.
When asked Thursday morning where she stood on Stephen Harper’s statement about Canadian security not being compromised by taking in refugees who’ve not been properly screened, local Conservative MP Alice Wong cited an announcement earlier in the day from the Prime Minister, claiming moves are now being made to speed up the immigration process for Syrian refugees.
However, there was nothing specific in the Harper statement and Wong was unable to provide any further details, other than stating that Chris Alexander, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, was working on a plan.
Wong said that, since the election campaign began a few weeks ago, she had not heard one constituent mention the Syrian refugee crisis until today (Thursday).
The war in Syria has been going on for years, noted Wong, claiming that her government has, in recent years, taken in around 20,000 people from Syria and Iraq.
“Taking in refugees (from Syria), it’s not like with the Philippines, for example, this is from a region (connected to) ISIS,” said Wong.
“We have to make sure Canadians are protected from people who come through the system without being properly screened.”
Wong said she would be happy to meet with any local organizations that are trying to help with the Syrian humanitarian crisis.
Anyone wanting to donate to the BC Muslim Association’s efforts can go to thebcma.com. Or, if you’d like to help the Peace Mennonite Church, email [email protected].
