Toronto pastors call for urgent action to address housing for refugees

TORONTO:

A JAMAICAN Canadian pastor is among three church leaders calling on the Canadian government to immediately address what they consider a “neglect of the urgent humanitarian crisis faced by refugees and asylum-seekers from the African continent.”

Pastor Judith James of Revivaltime Tabernacle (RTT) - founded in 1980 by her father, the late Jamaican Canadian Bishop Dr. Audley James – joined pastors Eddie Jjumba and Chi Opia-Evans at a recent press conference to express their concern.

For over a month, the three local churches – Revivaltime Tabernacle (RTT) Worldwide Ministries, Dominion Church International, and Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles – have been providing crucial support, housing, clothing, nourishment, and essential care for over 600 men and women.

On July 14, African groups, groups working with refugees, people experiencing homelessness, and other civil society groups gathered outside 129 Peter Street– location of the City of Toronto Referral and Assessment Centre – to call on the government to urgently provide emergency housing and support, to address the current shelter system crisis affecting unhoused refugee claimants and migrants in Toronto.

The group highlighted that for several weeks, newly arrived African refugee claimants were sleeping on the sidewalk outside the building because of a lack of housing in the shelter system.

The leaders say the federal, provincial, and municipal governments have effectively neglected the wel-lbeing of these vulnerable individuals, leaving them in a state of uncertainty and distress.

The city does not fund immigrant services directly, but supports many community organisations that provide services to immigrants. The province provides services to new arrivals, such as refugee claimants, migrant workers, international students, citizens and immigrants as well. However, the federal government is the largest funder.

IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION

Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser recently announced that the federal government would allocate $212 million for the Interim Housing Assistance Program, which provides funding on a cost-sharing basis to provinces and municipalities to cover the costs of interim housing for asylum claimants. He said $97 million would be earmarked for Toronto.

Mayor Olivia Chow said the city has provided three churches with $50,000 to help offset costs of housing refugees and that the city is housing about 10,000 people in its shelter system, approximately 3,300 of whom are newcomers.

But there is a need for more and urgent help.

The mayor said half of the people coming to shelters are refugees and she had been calling on the federal government to supply more money to help address the situation.

“The current situation is untenable and highlights the dire need for immediate and effective government intervention. These individuals have fled their home countries in search of safety and protection, only to be met with a system that has failed to provide them with the basic necessities and support they deserve as stipulated by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights (1948). It is with great disappointment that we witness the lack of comprehensive assistance and proactive measures from the authorities responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of all residents in our city and province,” the church leaders noted in a release to the media.

FINANCIAL STRAIN

They said the resilience and compassion displayed by the congregations of Revivaltime Tabernacle, Dominion Church, and Pilgrim Feast deserve commendation and recognition; however, the burden placed upon these organisations is unsustainable and has reached crisis level.

The leaders have called on all three levels of government to urgently address this situation and to provide an apology for the treatment of these refugee claimants due in large measure to inadequate, limited, and inappropriate housing.

They want interim housing solutions to radically decrease the number of patrons being housed at RTT, Dominion Church, and Pilgrim Feast, and immediate programmes to address all medical, and mental health concerns of the men and women within the care of their churches.

The church leaders are urging the City of Toronto, province of Ontario and the federal government of Canada, to separately or collaboratively reimburse these churches and all other organisations that have endured financial strain not mitigated by the goodwill donations of the people of Toronto, the province, country, and worldwide.

The group has also called for a commission or inquiry into the causes, and consequences of what they believe to be a clear dereliction on basic governmental duties and responsibilities.

The Canadian Black Clergies and Allies recently started a petition demanding justice and equality for all. The organisation said the three churches and Uganda Muslim Association of Canada mosque have stepped up to provide crucial support and the government needs to act.