St. Clare of Assisi welcomes second refugee family
The B.C. Catholic
After countless security checks, paperwork, and two sleepless nights en route to the other side of the world, five Iraqi refugees have landed in Canada.
“We didn’t believe we would come here. We are so happy. We didn’t believe it until now,” said Layth Balkail Jan. 27. Their trip to safety has been a long time coming.
He, his wife Nahida, and their three children, 9, 8, and 2, used to call a small town outside of Mosul, Iraq, their home.
Their parish priest warned the community that ISIS was near when the extremist group invaded Mosul in June 2014. He stopped ringing the church bells.
When ISIS occupied a city, it would give non-Muslim residents four options: pay a large sum, convert, leave within a few hours, or lose your head.
The priest heard ISIS was coming closer in August and warned the community. The Balkail family, with many others, grabbed their ID and jumped into their cars, leaving their homes behind. They believe those who stayed behind were all killed.
They fled to Erbil, southeast of Mosul, and after a few days to Lebanon. That’s where they stayed for a year and half, working off and on to pay the rent on a small basement suite, until they were finally approved to board a plane to Canada in January.
“There are a lot of families just wishing to get somewhere. We are lucky to be here now,” Layth said just after stepping out of the airport.
They landed in Canada thanks to the sponsorship of St. Clare of Assisi Parish.
“When I talk to them, they are so appreciative and they don’t want to be a burden to us,” said Sharon Ciebin, a member of the parish sponsorship committee.
Their new home is an apartment in Surrey, near an Iraqi community. Ciebin said the Coquitlam parish wouldn’t leave the family to cope with the move on its own, even though they are living across the Fraser River.
“We’re not just dropping them off there. We are financially supporting them and we want them to know we love them and are going to be with them.”
Members of the parish sponsorship committee are in charge of taking the family to get Social Insurance numbers, filing other paperwork, showing them where the grocery store is, and inviting them to parish events.
Leslie Hannigan said she developed a relationship with Nahida long before the family landed in Canada. They sent images and text messages back and forth with the help of a translation app.
“I said, ‘I think you’re going to like your new home,'” Hannigan recounted. She had sent photos of the apartment, generously furnished with donations from parishioners.
“Her message said, ‘If it was prepared by you, I’m sure I’m going to love it because it was made with love. Everything made with love is beautiful. Thank you very much.'”
This is the second family to arrive thanks to the parish’s sponsorship committee. The first group of refugees, the Aleid family, landed at YVR Jan. 17.
That family of four lives in Coquitlam. Ciebin visits them often and says they have already decorated their home with religious items, and their English is improving.
“You see them and you just see Christ. When I walk down the hall, I can hear the kids laughing. I think: oh, that’s what we want! We want them to be happy.”
