‘It could collapse at any time’: Earthquake survivors desperate to leave Syria, join family in Calgary | 24CA News
Maha Gharib hasn’t seen her household since she left Syria for Calgary seven years in the past.
Her dad and mom and sisters survived the earthquake that hit the nation final month, however their house was broken.
“Engineers estimate it could collapse at any time, so you can’t imagine how scared they are all the time and worried. My mom has panic attacks,” Gharib stated.
“It’s really hard for them and for my niece — she’s not able to sleep at night because of how scared she is.”
Gharib is doing what she will from Calgary, together with volunteering at a fundraising occasion for earthquake survivors on Saturday evening.
Her dad and mom are determined to get out Syria, however the Syrian passport is at backside of the listing in world passport rankings.
According to VisaGuide World Passport Index, the Syrian passport solely permits for passage into 9 nations visa-free.
“They were talking about going to Egypt, for example, but it’s really hard. You can’t imagine how hard it is, so if they are able to come here, that would be more than great,” Gharib stated.
The federal authorities introduced Saturday it should make it simpler for non permanent residents from Turkey and Syria to increase their keep in Canada and can prioritize the visa functions of individuals from these two nations.
More than 50,000 folks had been killed and hundreds of thousands had been displaced after the 7.8-magnitude quake and a number of other highly effective aftershocks hit southern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6.
Federal immigration minister Sean Fraser, stated the federal government will enable folks from Turkey and Syria who’ve a brief standing to go to household, research or work in Canada to use for an extension and can waive the applying charges for them.
“In particular, we are going to priority process applications for temporary residency for people who have been impacted — specifically family members of people who are in Canada today,” Fraser stated.
“These refugees have already fled wars and now they were living somehow in very, very minimum conditions, and now all of a sudden everything is gone for them.”
Saima Jamal, the cofounder Calgary Immigrant Support Society, stated refugees have to be someplace the place they really feel secure and brought care of and Canada is that place.
She stated in terms of earthquake survivors, the Canadian authorities needs to be taking an analogous method because it did with Ukrainians fleeing the struggle.
Read extra:
‘I am begging people to care’: Calgary Syrian refugee organizes assist for earthquake survivors
“We need to do the same for the Syrians. We need to make the process easier but you also cannot expect a lot of them to be working here. There’s a lot of elderly people that are coming, so these are people that have no way to survive anymore. It’s very difficult for them, so you also need to make exceptions and when you do ask people to come here as a temporary resident that they have some support here waiting for them as well,” Jamal stated.
“These Syrians right now that are in Turkey, they don’t have any homes. They have nothing,” Jamal stated.
After over a decade of battle, Syria stays the world’s largest refugee disaster. Millions of refugees have misplaced their livelihoods and with the earthquake, the need to go away is much more pressing.
“They just want to seek a safer place. This is the only dream,” Gharib stated.
“Coming to Canada — that would be like a miracle.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
