By Created by E Pluribus Anthony / User:Mzajac [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In the UN process, asylum seekers must pass through a series of steps that hopefully lead them to freedom in a third country. First, they apply to the UNHCR as asylum seekers. Then they wait (normally over a year) for an interview to take place. Then they wait (months to over a year) for the results of their interview to come back. Then they are either granted refugee status or refused. If refused they can appeal and if their appeal is rejected their case is closed. If they are granted refugee status, they are then eligible for, but not guaranteed, resettlement. The lack of guarantee is because of the limited slots available for resettlement in the various countries. Families or individuals wait indefinitely for resettlement, many times for years with no word of when or where they could be resettled.
Enter Canada. Canada has a private sponsorship program that allows asylum seekers to apply for resettlement there through private organizations that interface with the government. This allows families and individuals to take control of their futures. If they can find a group or organization in Canada willing to sponsor them, then they have an alternative route to resettlement other than the indefinite UN process.
The Love Movement is pleased that some of our main families have gotten refugee status. These families have made commitments to work to help refugees with at least 10% of their income and their personal involvement once they are resettled. The idea is to create a chain reaction. Get rescued. Then rescue others. Then repeat with the newly rescued. The rescued consciously change the stream of their lives to increase their activity, creativity, and purpose to revolve around helping others for their whole lives. As the number of rescued grow they become an amazing force for good that impacts the whole world.
But back to the present reality … It takes resources to get people to Canada. Private sponsors have to deposit funds into a special account designated for possible expenses of resettled families. Without those funds deposited, no entry visas will be issued. The funds aren’t necessarily used. They just need to be there for them should they need them. There are rules attached to these funds as well. The refugees are prevented from obligating themselves to prepay or repay resettlement costs incurred by their sponsoring group. However, relatives of the refugees that are in Canada can contribute to resettlement costs. Here’s a table of the costs:
Sponsorship Cost Table
| Family Size | 12 Months of Income Support | Start-up Costs | Estimated Total Annual Settlement Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10,700 | 2,800 | 13,500 |
| 2 | 18,000 | 4,400 | 22,400 |
| 3 | 18,900 | 5,300 | 24,200 |
| 4 | 21,200 | 7,000 | 28,200 |
| 5 | 23,700 | 7,200 | 30,900 |
| 6 | 25,700 | 8,000 | 33,700 |
| 7 or more (for each additional member) | 1,550 | 1,000 | 2,550 |
These figures are in Canadian dollars which at the time of this writing are worth about 3/4 of a US dollar. So, for example, we have a family of 7 that has started the process with Canada and according to the chart above the amount they need in their sponsorship account would be $36,250 (about $27,000US). A family member in Canada will be contributing $5,000, which means we have to raise the other $31,250 (about $23,000US). This family is committed to the Love Movement and wants to help other refugees. The sooner they are resettled, the sooner they can start helping others. What we’d like to do is to find people that would be willing to loan this money to the Love Movement and then we can start rescuing families one by one.
The number one hurdle to this plan is fear. Frankly, people count money as more dear than human lives and they fear losing more than they have the faith in their fellow human beings. This fact is tied to the nature of the monetary system itself where literally all money is debt owed to someone and that debt can never be paid off because there is more debt in the world than there is money to pay it. Creating more money can’t solve this problem because any new money that’s created also needs to be paid back at interest. So, we are in a debt spiral that we can’t escape from so we need to realize that our money only has very temporary worth and that now is the time to turn it into something truly valuable which is treasure in heaven – real people who’s lives have been transformed by our help. This paragraph may seem like a strange divergence from the theme of Canada, but the reality is that everything is connected, and the bottom line is that now is the time to help because tomorrow might be too late for some of these families. We just have to resolve to not have any more excuses and take the plunge and help. We will learn so much along the way.
