Syrian refugee refuses to relocate, thought Winnipeg 'was another country'

After weeksina Toronto hoteleating food they don't knowamongstrangers who speaka language they don't understand, a Syrian refugee family's patience was rewarded.

They got a phone call telling themthey would be transferred to a permanent home. Although, it wasn't clear where they were going.

In fact, they thought they were destinedforanother country.

"We didn't know where Winnipeg was," saidAmer Mejarmish, who spokeexclusively to CBC Newsthrough an interpreter.

But Winnipeg is where they were goingto be. And soon.

What's Winnipeg?

The first call, Mejarmishsaid, came at around 6:30 p.m. Friday.The translator on the phone said to start packingand getready to move in the morning.

Hours later, at 4:30 a.m., a second call. And a warning: the bus is coming to take your family to the airport and onto Winnipeg at 6 a.m. sharp.

The federalgovernment helpedMejarmishmoveto Canadawith his pregnant wifeand two-year-old daughter about 20 days ago.Winnipeg was not one of the three Canadian cities heGoogled before heleft the refugee settlement in Jordan, where he couldn't get identity papers and couldn't work.

Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto were the names he knew. Toronto was the shiniest of those. It was where he was told he would land,where he planned to make his home. This new change in plan was a shock, and confusing.

At the airport Saturday morning, the Mejarmishfamily joined a lineup ofother refugee families,bussed in from hotels across the GTA. One by one they signed the paperwork fortheir transfersto Manitoba.

Those families told Mejarmishto stop hesitating, worried there couldbe repercussions if he didn't go.

But the plane left without him on it. Mejarmishrefused to leave.Now, his family doesn't know what happens next.

'Changes happen'

The people in charge are offeringnoanswers. On Tuesday, CBC reached the head of the non-profit company charged with overseeing the refugees at the hotel where Mejarmish stayed.

"Changes happen," saidJacquie Lewis, executive director the Malton Neighbourhood Services.

She confirmedseveral government-assisted refugees were relocated from Toronto to Winnipeg over the weekend. But refused to say how much notice they were given.

"We got instructions that there would be changes on the weekend," she said, adding her organization was just following government orders.

As of Tuesday night, the media section for the federal government's Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship had not responded torequests for interviews.

Forever running

"They may not have a choice, but we can at least make the change easier,"said SamJisri, who runsagroup that helps refugees resettle in CanadacalledSyrian Active Volunteers.

He said heunderstands that refugees must move where the resources exist to take them, but believes those transfers should be facilitated fairly.

"Give them notice, tell them about it, explain what is there [in that province or city]," he said."Those people ran from a regime, so the last thing they want to see is any kind ofoppression."

Mejarmish doesn't feel like he's running anymore, he's treading water.

His familytransferred to a different hotel.And like hundreds of others, they wait: looking forward to doing the normal things their Canadian neighbours do, like opening bank accounts and buying hummus at the grocery store.

And wondering what city they'll land in next.