On Giving Tuesday, please consider a donation (details below) to support the relentless and persistent grassroots work of the Rural Refugee Rights Network, which last week celebrated winning the permits to reunite the 12th of a dozen long-separated Palestinian families from Gaza. With your help – making phone calls, writing emails, taking part in chain fasts and peaceful pickets, helping gather furniture and other items needed to resettle, organizing welcoming parties at airports – we made a huge difference in the lives of those who had for years suffered the trauma of family separation. That pain was on top of enduring impoverished conditions in a brutal war zone with little chance of escape, and the loss of hope that anyone cared enough to work with them so they could once again enjoy the embraces of their kids, spouses and parents. As one newly reunited parent said, “You made our impossible dream come true.”
Our reunification campaign has inspired other families to come forward seeking our assistance, which is part of the work you can support on (or even before!) Giving Tuesday with a donation to the Rural Refugee Rights Network (details on donating below).
For over a decade, our work with a loose-knit grouping of folks in both rural and urban settings has encompassed a broad range of activity to uphold the rights of refugees and immigrants, to promote sanctuary as a viable option for those facing significant risk upon deportation, and to work towards breaking down the walls, borders and barriers that prevent some of the world’s most vulnerable people from moving freely and seeking asylum and a better life.
Along the way, we've reunited a lot of families, stopped deportations, created safe spaces for those who refused to board a plane returning them to torture, and provided action and support for refugees whose cases had simply fallen through the cracks.
Because we advocate for systemic change to end the suffering of those displaced by systemic greed and violence, we unfortunately cannot offer tax receipts. But what we can point to is a strong record of refusing to see any situation as impossible, and coming up with creative, novel solutions that set precedents so that we can open the door for others who fear they will never again see their kids or their spouses.
As we head into 2022, we have much work to do not only on individual cases, but also on seeking legislative and regulatory changes to end the punishment Canadian institutions regularly inflict on refugees for having had to flee their countries. The Liberals campaigned on introducing a new visa to bring families together during permanent residency processing. It's a good idea, but one that has to become a reality as soon as possible. Those in war zones, living under impossibly difficult conditions and traumatized by separation, cannot wait a day longer.
This summer, I got to meet the war-traumatized children of the first of the 12 reunited Palestinian refugee families. We played badminton, their eyes cautiously looking to the sky for the birdie. In Gaza, looking to the skies for these kids was equated with fear: it was filled with drones, attack helicopters, bombers, and missiles. I am so happy they can now look to the sky with joy and wonder while playing badminton. They can be kids again.
To donate to the Rural Refugee Rights Network, please send an etransfer to tasc@web.ca or a cheque made out to Homes not Bombs, 2583 Carling Ave., Unit M052, Ottawa, ON K2B 7H7 (earmarked RRRN)
Thanks for your support.
Matthew Behrens
Rural Refugee Rights Network
PS: While we celebrate the remarkable reunification of the above dozen families, we still have much work to do by year's end. Below are petitions you can sign in support of children who have been separated over two years from their parents, including Amitis (in Iran), Afnaan (in Uganda) and Yazan (Syria), who needs to get to Canada in the next six weeks to save him from being gang-pressed into the Syrian military.
To help 13-year-old Iranian girl Amitis reunite with her Calgary mom, please sign: https://www.change.org/p/reunite-at-risk-iranian-girl-with-her-calgary-mother-grant-amitis-a-permit-now
To reunite 3-year-old Afnaan (now in Uganda) with her Brockville mother, please sign at https://www.change.org/p/reunite-baby-afnaan-3-separated-for-2-years-from-her-mom-in-brockville-ontario (and if you are near Ottawa, join us as Santa Claus presents a petition in her support on December 7! Email tasc@web.ca for details)
Yazan, 17, is afraid to turn 18, because that means being drafted into the Syrian military. All of his family are in Canada. To support him sign at: https://www.change.org/p/canada-must-save-syrian-boy-from-threat-of-jail-torture