MCC Assists 40,000 Refugees

by Tim Wichert
Refugee Assistance

MCC has assisted over 40,000 refugees get to Canada in the past 80 years When it was first started in 1920, MCC helped Mennonites fleeing war, persecution and famine in Europe. By the 1970s, MCC had shifted its focus to helping refugees from around the world, regardless of race or religion.

From 1920 to 1960, MCC assisted Mennonites wanting to start a new life in Canada, the US and South America. The First World War, followed by the Russian Revolution, had caused tremendous upheaval for Mennonites in Russia and the Ukraine. Their comfortable way of life was shattered. Their refusal to bear arms in war was tested. Many were brutally raped or killed; others were forced into exile. Thousands took the opportunity to leave behind their homeland and start a new life of peace and security in North America.

Another wave of Mennonite refugees fled as a result of WWII. Many were caught up in the occupation of Russia by the German Army, and managed to flee to Western Europe. From there, MCC assisted them onward to North and South America. During the 1950's, more escaped the repression in the Soviet Union. MCC helped them reunite with families that had fled in earlier years.

MCC's role was to help process people out of Europe, to find welcoming communities in Canada, the US and parts of South America, and to ensure that Government policies would facilitate this emigration. At times, public opinion was hostile towards Mennonite newcomers, and public education and awareness raising were necessary.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Canadian Government policy gradually changed to accept non-European immigrants, primarily from Africa and Asia. A new Immigration Act in 1976 included provisions for helping refugees, including private sponsorships. In 1979, MCC negotiated an agreement with the Canadian Government to bring Southeast Asian refugees to Canada, in response to the refugee crisis there. Over the next two years, over 60,000 refugees came to Canada from Southeast Asia, sponsored either by churches, private groups or the Government. Through MCC, Mennonite churches sponsored almost 4000.

In the 1980s MCC shifted focus to other regions, including Central America. Needs around the world were increasing, due to conflict, war and human rights abuses. MCC refugee sponsorship programmes focused on helping refugees with special needs, like single mothers and large families. Helping refugees get reunited with relatives in Canada was also an ongoing priority.

In the late 1980s, MCC supported a number of local initiatives in Canada to assist refugees that were coming to Canada directly, and claiming asylum here instead of awaiting lengthy sponsorship processes overseas. A number of Mennonite agencies were created during this time, and continue to assist refugees locally. As more resources went into these settlement services, the sponsorship work waned.

But after a lull in sponsorships in the early 1990's, interest rose again with the war in the Balkans. Since then, a long list of old and new conflicts has led to an increase in MCC's sponsorship work. Refugees have joined our communities from Sudan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Colombia. In the past 20 years, almost 15,000 refugees have been able to come to Canada through MCC's refugee sponsorship programme.

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