Sponsoring Syrian refugees easier said than done, Calgary group finds

Lori Petryk, like many in Canada and around the world, was moved to tears when she saw the photo of three-year-oldAylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach. She was also moved to do something about it.

"We give annually to different causes but wewanted to give a larger amount of money. We hadn't found anything. And then when this came about, we thought, this is it."

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She and her husband rounded up a group of friends, raised $45,000 and attempted to sponsor a refugee family from Syria.

It wasn't that easy.

Government program

Petryk and her friends are working through a government program called the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program (BVOR), which requires them to find an organization that has a legal agreement with the government to sponsor refugees and then to become a co-sponsor.

Ottawa will kick in $15,000 towards relocating a family of five and the sponsors have to pay the rest anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000. Petryk's group is also hoping to pay for the family's airfare.

A sponsored family can then be in Canada within four months.

Despite the fact there are more thanfour million Syrian refugees, there aren't enough of them approved by both the United Nations and the Canadian government, and the approval process is slow.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada says its goal is to admit 700 to 1,000 refugees through the BVOR program in 2015; as of September,153 Syrians and 136 Iraqi refugees have arrived.

Swamped by requests

Andre Visscher, chair of the refugee Sponsorship Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Calgary, says he's been swamped with requests to become co-sponsors since the photo of AylanKurdi hit the papers, including Petryk and her friends.

Most requests, however, are only for Syrians, but the need goes beyond that nation.

"Eritreans on it,Iraqis on it,Somalis on it.Ethiopians on it, and other nationalities on it. But very few Syrians. It is a concern that with all the attention being on Syria, some other groups will not make it to Canada and will remain in refugee camps,"he said.

Petryk says the image of Syrians risking their lives on dangerous Mediterranean crossings has made them focus on that country in need.

Early notice

Once a Syrian family does makes the list, however, they don't have to wait long to find a sponsor.

"We've tried three times. Each time we have sent insaying here is a family that we can support. We have the money for this. We have in-kind donations. But people in the east get there before usbecause they get the list before us," says Petryk.

She's referring tothe list of applicants that goes out at 8 a.m. ET, and is usually cleared right away.

Visscher has told Petryk and her friends that he expects another list of approved Syrian refugees to be released by Ottawa on Friday. It's going to be released at 10 a.m. MT.

Those interested in sponsoring a refugee, or learning more about the program can visit theBlended Visa Office-Referred Program site.