Eastman Immigrant Services held an informational meeting on Thursday to provide insight into welcoming and hosting Syrian refugees.

Richard Harder is the Program Director for Eastman Immigrant Services. He says they initially rented a space with 60 seats to hold the meeting but changed the venue to the Pat Porter Active Living Centre because of the overwhelming interest from the community. He says the event went from 1pm to 4pm.

Harder notes with all of the talk of refugees coming to Canada and then filtering down to Manitoba and the Southeast they thought it would be a good idea to bring in some experts on the subject to figure out how to be supportive as a community. He says Eastman Immigrant Services has dealt with a lot of new people in Steinbach but it is always a little different when a new culture starts entering.

“Whenever you start with a new culture there are less resources in place to accommodate them including language and others so we are guessing that we are going to need to focus on developing some new resources for a new culture. Also because refugees have not chosen to come here they might have not had a chance to prepare and as such need a little bit more additional support.”

Marta Kalita represented Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council or Welcome Place. She says their goal recently has been the settlement of government assisted refugees which are people who are sponsored by the Canadian government to come to Canada. She says they also work to support privately sponsored refugees. She says her presentation focused on the difference between refugees and immigrants.

“The power point that I presented generally overviews the work that we do, but focusing on the difference between refugees and immigrants. Generally speaking the society doesn't know that not all the newcomers are the same. There are differences between the refugees and immigrants and this will be a main focus of my presentation.”

Michelle Strain spoke at the meeting as a representative of Manitoba Immigrant and Refugee Settlement Sector. She says MIRSSA is a province wide association with a lot of diverse members. She says she is sort of in the middle connecting the government and the community and the settlement agencies. She notes this is an effort that will take everyone.

“It is going to take an entire community. It is not just one church or one family or one organization but a whole community to welcome these people in to help them settle successfully.”

Nour Ali was the third speaker and represented the Kurdish Association of Manitoba. He says he is a Syrian refugee himself, coming to Manitoba through MCC three years ago. He notes they work a lot with refugees, helping with settlement, integration, and language. He says his presentation focused around the diversity of Syria.

“I think an important thing is not all Syrians are the same. In Syria we have a lot of religion and we have also five or six different religions, and also we have five or six different languages. Not everyone is the same, not everyone has the same background. I think it is very important and we have to give a chance to these refugees who are coming here.”

Harder notes they were able to talk to the community about how to create partnerships when it comes to embracing Syrian refugees. He says it is important to work together.

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Attendants listen To Marta Kalita