Omar Al-Isso, Halifax man, hopes to bring Syrian family to Nova Scotia
A Halifax man who immigrated to Canada in 1995 from Syria says between 30 and 40 of his family members there are currently displaced by the civil war and he hopes to bring them to Canada.
"You live here safe and sound and you feel hopeless, like you can't help anybody. That's the hard part," said Omar Al-Isso.
Worldwide attention is being focused on Syria after the body of Syrian toddler, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach. His family had tried to flee the civil war in Syria by paying smugglers for a dangerous boat trip.
Al-Isso is originally from Al-Hasakah, a city in northeastern Syria. He says that between 1982 and 1992, he was in jail as a political prisoner. Once he was released, he came to Canada by way of the Netherlands.
Al-Isso says his family members are mostly in Kurdistan (a Kurdish region in Iraq) and Turkey. Some of them went to Greece by boat, but were turned away.
"The Greek police arrest them and send them back to Turkey," he said.
'They use them'
For his family members living and working in Turkey, they are being paid 75 per cent less than the going Turkish wage.
"They use them," said Al-Isso.
More than four million refugees have fled Syria since the civil war began in 2011. There are also more than seven million internally displaced people within Syria.
Al-Isso communicates with his family through text messaging and Facebook.
He would like to see the Canadian government do more to help the people of Syria, such as provide humanitarian assistance on the ground, make it easier for Syrians to come here and accept at least 25,000 refugees. The last goal is a modest one, he says.
"Canada is a huge country," said Al-Isso, noting that Germany plans to take in 800,000 refugees.
Al-Isso sent a letter to Canada's immigration minister, Chris Alexander, saying that he wanted to bring his family here. He says the minister told him to start a sponsor group.
Al-Isso says he would support his family as best as he could.
"If I bring my nephews and nieces, I will keep taking care of them and direct them to the good things, good programs and good schools. I will help them... I think that's a good way to bring some Syrians," he said.
In a statement, Alexander said Canada has already resettled nearly 22,000 Iraqis and 2,300 Syrians and has set a target of accepting 23,000 Iraqi and 11,300 Syrian refugees.
What is Nova Scotia doing?
According to a spokesperson for Nova Scotia's immigration department, since Jan. 1, 2014, Nova Scotia has received 20 Syrian refugees, while the country as a whole has accepted 2,649.
Since that date, Canada has received 33,887 refugees from all countries, while Nova Scotia has received 360 refugees.
The spokesperson says Nova Scotia Minister of Immigration Lena Diab has met with Alexander numerous times over the past 20 months and has raised the issue of Nova Scotia taking more refugees, including Syrian refugees.
Nova Scotia's Deputy Premier, Diana Whalen, says the province is waiting on the federal government so that it can take action on the Syrian refugee crisis.
"We (want) to be part of the solution, we've indicated that. We're waiting for the federal government," she said.
