Refugee camp in Sudan. Photo by Alun McDonald/Oxfam/Flickr.

On Saturday, February 22, on a bitterly cold and snowy afternoon in downtown Montréal, a demonstration was held by the Sudanese Canadian Association of Québec. The turnout was small and drew about 20 people to Square Philips.

The protest happened in the wake of an announcement made two days prior by Immigration Minister Marc Miller to increase the application quotas on humanitarian immigration pathways for Sudanese nationals. Canada made a new commitment to resettle 4,700 Sudanese refugees by 2026. Four thousand people will receive government assistance and 700 will be permitted to apply for refugee status through private sponsorship.

While demonstrators were encouraged by the expansion of the programs, they are demanding a more proportional response to the brutal civil war which has claimed over 150,000 lives and displaced over 12 million people since 2023. Sudanese-Canadians are calling on the federal government to put more pressure on the factions that are profiting from the war and directly funding genocide in the Darfur region.

Canada’s humanitarian family reunification program for Sudanese and non-Sudanese nationals who lived in Sudan when the war erupted was also reopened after last year’s closure. The federal program is adding 1,750 new spots for a total of 5,000 across Canada. This program now also includes 500 spots reserved for applicants from Québec, who were not previously eligible.

“It’s great news, obviously, but it’s not matching the need when we’re talking about the largest displacement crisis in the world,” Duha Elmardi of the Sudan Solidarity Collective told Canadian Dimension.

Applicants for the Québec reunification program have to apply before April 17 of this year. That gives applicants little more than a month to gather documents and submit biometric requirements, like fingerprints facilitated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), amid a raging war that has targeted civilians.

It is only possible to meet these requirements in areas of Sudan where the IOM operates. And that is assuming the internet works. Sudan has been experiencing sustained internet blackouts. Apart from the documentation requirements, applicants for the family reunification program must pay application fees and prove they earn a stable income.

“Those who are receiving financial assistance or don’t meet that financial requirement are just supposed to watch their families face atrocities day in and day out,” Elmardi said. “Now, not only are we taking on this financial responsibility, we’re also having to resettle our families in an entirely different province.”

Last year, Sudanese-Canadians living in Québec were not eligible for the 3,250 family reunification spots. Due to community advocacy, however, 500 applications have been reserved for people living in Québec, but the new applicants and their families are required to resettle in another province.

Many Sudanese-Canadians have lived in Canada for decades; this country is their home. These Québecers now have to think about uprooting their lives and starting over in a province located thousands of kilometres away from their friends, communities, and careers. The family reunification program is not uniting families, Elmardi said, it is treating Sudanese-Canadians like second-class citizens.

“It’s a very strange approach. But it was the only condition for us to even be able to apply. We have to comply with that.”

The impacts of the war are growing. Over 12 million people have now been displaced across Sudan, including over 3.4 million people who have fled to neighbouring countries. Hospitals have been targeted and bombed. Civilians are slaughtered daily with impunity. Medical and aid workers are routinely attacked and killed. Rape is being used as a weapon of war.

Sudanese activist Yasser Essa spoke with Canadian Dimension in the days after the demonstration. Essa specializes in humanitarian emergency response and has worked with numerous NGOs and United Nations agencies in Sudan including in Darfur.

As Essa explained, aid workers require permission from military and paramilitary leaders to deliver critical resources to people in need. Humanitarian aid is not always........

© Canadian Dimension