By Greg Higgins

N.B. parish battles bureaucracy to relocate Syrian family

Nov 15, 2016 | 4:17 PM

A second Syrian family waits indefinitely to begin their new lives in North Battleford.

St. Joseph Parish officially submitted documents in June but according to co-coordinator Ken Loehndorf, the date of the family’s arrival is anyone’s guess.

“We were hoping to get the family in six months or earlier than that,” Loenhdorf said. “The issue is immigration folks are so over worked right now. We are hoping they will be here by Christmas next year but there are no guarantees.”

Loenhdorf estimated roughly $40,000 will be needed to support the family and said the group already has $30,000 banked. He credits the parish and its members for their successful fundraising.

The parish has the opposite problem facing Nicole Leineweber and Living Skies Refuge, who are yet to fundraise the money needed. When asked if Loenhdorf and his group would consider joining forces, he said St. Joesph’s had ultimately decided they could function independently. 

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As for the refugee family, they are currently located in a camp in Jordan. They are comprised of a mother and father with two sons aged 15 and 10 and two daughters aged 15 and five. Loenhdorf said their camp is in a safe location and they are “as comfortable as a family can be in a refugee camp.”

According to Loenhdorf the idea of bringing a refugee family to Canada is something St. Joseph’s Parish had considered for years.

“From our parish and community perspective we felt it was time to walk the talk,” Loenhdorf said. “As a Catholic Parish we believe in social justice, we believe in providing that support. This was an opportunity to enter into a project that could really help a family. We will start with one and we may well do another.”

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.