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24.04.05, 05:25
Swiata. Do roboty rodacy w Kanadzie ktos bedzie musial utrzymas te armie
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Canada too slow in helping tsunami survivors immigrate: critics
Last Updated Sat, 23 Apr 2005 21:10:07 EDT
CBC News
TORONTO - Canadians with relatives in the countries hit hardest by the Asian
tsunami say Ottawa hasn't kept its promise to speed up the immigration process
and reunite their families.
* INDEPTH: Tsunami disaster in Asia
Yamini Sathiyaseelan's son has been practicing a welcome for his grandparents.
The immigration minister at the time, Judy Sgro, promised that her department
would "expedite those applications," adding "believe me, we would like to have
them here in a couple of weeks."
But four months after the disaster, many people have complained that the
fast-tracking isn't going nearly fast enough.
Of 1,300 applications made, only 258 people have been granted landed immigrant
status so far.
Yamini Sathiyaseelan, a Canadian whose grandparents lived only 300 metres from
the ocean in Sri Lanka, feared she had lost them to the waves that killed more
than 31,000 Sri Lankans on Dec. 26.
The couple managed to take shelter on a roof, but the disaster made
Sathiyaseelan – who had already applied to sponsor her parents – more
determined to bring the rest of her family to Canada.
"I thought that I am going to lose my family ... and I was thinking that I
have to keep them with me."
Immigration says it's moving quickly
The Immigration Department defended its speed, saying it's on track to process
applications within six to eight months after they're made.
Normally, the process takes a minimum of 18 months, the department said.
"We still have to have these people examined for medical admissibility," said
Immigration Minister Joe Volpe. "And second, we have to have verifiable
criminality and security checks."
Volpe said his department has spent millions of dollars sending extra staff to
the tsunami zone to speed things up, but it still takes time.
"The government can say what they have to," said Mehreen Raza of the South
Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. "The reality on the ground is that there is a
lot of frustration."
The society gives free legal counselling on the Immigration and Refugee Law,
including teaming up with other legal bodies to give information seminars on
the aftermath of the tsunami.
Sathiyaseelan said she understands the process because she went through it
five years ago, but still finds the wait hard.
"Today's my birthday and my mom said, 'Okay, I will come and be with you on
your birthday.' But no. Hope she'll be here for my son's birthday."
