Settlement workers in Manitoba indicate with the large number of refugee claimants crossing the Canada-United States border, it is time to prepare for more.
Rita Chahal is the executive director of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, the province’s largest refugee settlement agency.
“I think that we as a community we need to start preparing even greater numbers,” Chahal said.
Saturday Emerson officials opened a temporary shelter for refugee claimants after the nearby immigration office ran out of space for people to be processed.
RCMP said 22 people illegally crossed the border near Emerson on Saturday and Sunday.
Chahal said staff plan to visit the border region to speak with locals to answer questions and figure out ways to work together.
“At the end of the day this is about human lives,” she said. “We’re starting to see children now coming across, so those are getting scary.”
Chahal said it is important to prepare for more migrants in Manitoba to avoid a tragedy.
“We have to prepare to deal with this,” Chahal added. “We are very stretched, we are stretched to the limit.”
She said in a normal year the agency would manage 50 to 60 cases. In January, it managed 39 cases.
Chahal said the The Winnipeg Foundation has been the key supporter with respect to refugee claimants. However, funding is time-limited.
Most of the money to help refugees comes from private donors, she explained.
Provencher MP Ted Falk hopes a plan is developed before the weather warms up.
He said in an interview Tuesday with CTV Winnipeg it’s important to look out for the safety of the people crossing the border illegally, and people living in local communities near the border.
He said he’s aware the municipality in Emerson-Franklin wants help covering the cost of the people arriving in Manitoba, and knows workers at the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration council are stretched.
Falk said he’s spoken with the Reeve of Emerson-Franklin, Greg Janzen and Ralph Goodale the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.
“It’s important we protect the integrity of our border, and we don’t know who always crossing our border. Sometimes they got a really good reason to cross the border but sometimes they are also fleeing other things,” Falk added.
Ghezae Hagos helps people fill out the forms to become a refugee in Canada in downtown Winnipeg at Welcome Place.
He said the CBSA will not just let anyone come to Canada, and that refugee claimants undergo a security clearances and are screened with fingerprints and photo ID.
