Barrhead is getting some new refugees.
According to the members of the Barrhead and Community Refugee Support (BCRS) committee, the news was anticipated but co-chair Rita Lyster says the timing has thrown all of their planning askew.
BCHS sponsored one refugee, arriving in Barrhead last March, Buba Banda, who has since moved to Edmonton and the committee is now responsible for a married couple, Mahmoud and Nour, for the next 13 months.
“When we first heard that they [Mahmoud and Nour] were coming it was in an email that gave us four weeks notice. Less than a week later we were told to expect them in Edmonton June 29,” Lyster said.
Mahmoud and Nour are believed to be Sudanese, though Lyster could not say whether they were from North or South Sudan and whether they were of one faith or another.
“All we know at this point is that Mahmoud is a 37-year-old male who speaks Arabic and has been living in the refugee camp in Lebannon for the past year and his wife is 17 years younger than him,” she said, adding it is believed Mahmoud fled his home country due to fears of ethnic and political persecution.
Lyster said the group expects the cost of providing assistance to the newcomers to be approximately $22,000.
“We’ve already got $4,500 left over from what we raised previously in support of Buba and we all understand how much this community has already given, for one cause or another, but we could always use the help,” Lyster said.
In addition, co-chair Ralph Helder said the committee is also looking for home-stays and interpreters. “If there is a family willing to host them, people who speak the language [Arabic] and share the customs, it would be appreciated,” Helder said, adding discussions about the length of the home-stay could be had at a later date.
“The value of having these two newcomers live in an interim housing situation, with people who speak like they do, who can answer questions at a moment’s notice, is much more beneficial to the integration process as we learned through our dealings with Buba,” he said.
Anyone interested in assisting the group, either financially or materially, should contact Ralph Helder through email at [email protected]
