Refugee and Newcomers
Assistance Program

Imagine coming home to find your husband and mother killed and your children gone. It is too much…you faint and when you regain consciousness you are in jail where you are subsequently raped and tortured. Your health becomes so precarious that you are taken to a hospital, where someone pities you and manages to get you to Canada. Upon arrival you make a refugee claim, are recognized as a convention refugee and can stay. But what about your children?

After more than a year you receive word that your children are alive! They have fled to a neighbouring country but are not secure. You contact the Vancouver MCC Refugee Office where staff help you fill out the application forms to bring your children to Canada. They also contact the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to ensure the safety of the children in their asylum country. Still you have no money for processing fees, passports for the children, medical examinations and travel expenses. Finally, Citizenship and Immigration Canada grants you a loan to cover these costs. Others provide the funds for a ticket to go to see them before the processing is completed.

This story illustrates the typical refugee experience: families being separated, children separated from their parents, spouses separated from each other, loss of family members, fleeing. Those that make it here are “safe” but also worry desperately about what is happening to the rest of their family. It is one story out of the almost 1000 stories that MCC Refugee staff hear yearly. To learn more about MCC’s work with refugees or to learn how your congregation can sponsor a refugee family, contact Jennifer Mpungu, see address info below.

For more information on how you can get involved, contact Jennifer Mpungu at our Abbotsford office (604) 850-6639 and Toll-free at 1-888 622-6337 (Mon-Thurs: 8:30 a.m - 4:30 p.m) or e-mail her at: refugee@mccbc.com. In Vancouver contact Jamie Spray at (604) 325-5524.