By Farouq Edu
Published on 4th of December 2021
Afghan refugees have been stuck living in different Canadian hotels since they were rescued from the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan this summer. Some are starting to feel like they are stuck in limbo with extremely poor living conditions. As they try to get back on their feet, different obstacles seem to be piling up leaving them feeling helpless. For instance, parents are desperate to figure out how to support their children and help them into school. In addition, the hotels don’t have any kitchen facilities or laundry equipment. Refugee Sadar Khan Shinwari had this to say “We do the laundry (under) the shower because there isn’t any laundry machine.” The refugees are trying to move on with their lives but they say their basic needs aren’t being met. They plead for the Canadian government to get them through their transition with the help of support payments.
Another disappointed refugee who would like to stay anonymous for safety reasons stated “You know, three months, you know, no one from the government, from immigration, has come and interview with us and say, ‘Hey, how are you? How’s the situation?”
Luckily nearby Toronto residents who have witnessed these helpless refugees have stepped in. Some of them have donated winter clothes and boots to help families having no current income. There have been handouts in parking lots from trunks of cars near the Toronto airport and one of these generous individuals Yasmin Noori felt she needed to step in. “They don’t have anything,” she says. “I saw the people wearing (summer) clothes with slippers, I felt so bad because the weather was so cold.”
The chaos in Toronto increased when over 400 refugees from Scarborough were transported. Multiple people with dozens of their personal belongings stuffed in garbage plastic bags moved to their new accommodation. Some reported that this is their fifth move in less than three months. They also reported that it was hard to make and maintain relationships with locals because they often relocated. The goal for a lot of them is to get permanent housing but with the increase of toronto housing prices, the goal seems to be remote.
A spokesman for the federal government says that the feedback is being taken very seriously and they are putting actions in place to try and resettle about 40,000 of the refugees. In the meantime he also announced that they are trying to improve living conditions in these hotels. Also, Mario Calla (executive director of COSTI immigrant services) has also stated that about 350 have been settled in permanent housing as of yet.
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/information-for-afghans
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