Kitchener church, MP decry lack of support for refugees 'waiting on the sidelines'

A Kitchener Member of Parliament is calling out the Liberal government for not doing enough to support privately-sponsored Syrian refugees following complaints by a local church that has been awaiting a family's arrival for more than three months.

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Too many private sponsorship groups across Waterloo region are waiting to receive refugees with their arms outstretched, only to find that the families they are sponsoring have still not arrived in Canada, MP Harold Albrecht said Friday.

"I am hearing from private sponsorship groups from across the Waterloo region that have generously opened their doors, wallets, and hearts to assist Syrian refugees. They are seeing now seeing their donations go to waste; apartments being rented and released, contracts being canceled and more," Albrecht said.

To make his point, Albrecht points to the Kitchener-based St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, which he says raised over $70,000 to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, who they were told would arrive in February.

But three months later, the church and family have yet to be united. 

"We don't need to keep hearing about the 46,000 refugees who have already arrived," the church's refugee committee co-convenor Wilma Welsh said in a release. "We want to know about the ones that are waiting on the sidelines."

• Syrian refugee flees certain death, begins new life in Kitchener

The release says the church has received a letter from the Prime Minister but does not outline its contents.

"I am convinced that the Immigration Minister is not listening," Welsh said.