An elaborate humanitarian mission to rescue 10 at-risk Somali orphans from Saudi Arabia and bring them to Canada ends successfully tonight at Winnipeg’s airport.
That’s when unaccompanied minors are to arrive into the welcoming arms of their sponsors at Hospitality House Refugee Ministry.
"It’s a helluva story," said retired newspaperman and Hospitality House executive director Tom Denton. For the charity that has privately sponsored thousands of refugees over the years, this is its most complicated and suspenseful "caper" to date, he said.
The rescue involved 10 siblings ranging from eight to 16 years old, plus the eldest sister’s baby girl.
The siblings were orphaned after their widowed father died in 2014. Their dad had worked for the Somali consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the children were born. When he died, the Saudi government wanted to send the kids to Somalia where they had no relatives to support them and a slim chance of survival amid its anarchy, said Denton. Their late father’s friends and colleagues in Jeddah raised money to look after the children - who had no legal status in Saudi Arabia - and kept them safe there.
Then, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) started rounding up Somali "illegals" and deporting them. In October 2014, the oldest son, then 16, obtained a student visa to the U.S. After landing in Los Angeles, he took a bus to Minneapolis then caught a ride close to the border crossing at Emerson, Man. He walked into Canada and all the way to Winnipeg, where he has distant relatives.
He filed a successful refugee claim with the help of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council but his Winnipeg kin were recent newcomers and in no position to support him. He was placed in the care of Child and Family Services and as such cannot be identified. While safe in Winnipeg, the teen was distraught over leaving his younger siblings behind, Denton said. A social worker told him the young man would break into tears in school, afraid his siblings in Saudi in Arabia would be deported to Somalia.
"Here we have a situation where kids were in extreme danger," said Denton. The board of Hospitality House agreed to sponsor the children. "We had to get them out of there quickly or risk them being deported." Twice the children had to go into hiding when Saudi security forces swept their neighbourhood for "illegals." They had to sneak off in pairs for immigration medical checkups to not draw attention to themselves. They needed identity documents and passports from Somalia even though they were born and living in Saudi Arabia.
"The hardest part was to have the Canadian system for processing privately-sponsored refugees do a fast one," said Denton. "It’s not set up to do fast processing. Typically it takes five years or more."
This time, the bureaucracy acted quickly, thanks to the compassion and hard work of officials with Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Canada, the International Organization for Migration, the UNHCR and the Sponsorship Agreement Holder Secretariat in Ontario, said Denton. The "hero" who made it happen, though, is the older brother, said Denton.
"This kid of 16 crossed the world – alone – to L.A. Then he made his way to Minneapolis and thence to the Canadian border, from which point he walked to Winnipeg. He made a refugee claim, was successful, and then went about saving all his siblings from death or slavery, and giving them a chance in Canada... How many 16 year olds would have the strength and commitment to do that?"
Back in Winnipeg, groups and volunteers have been preparing for the children’s arrival, said Denton. One woman in the Somali community has volunteered to be a live-in "house mother" for the kids who will be housed at the Hospitality House residence and supported by the Catholic and Anglican funded charity. It’s met with CFS. An anonymous donor has agreed to pick up the tab for their airfare, he said.
Manitobans wanted to help when they heard about the arrival of the "KSA kids," said Karin Gordon, director of settlement for Hospitality House. Quilters in Pinawa, Man., have made blankets for each of them. Students at West Kildonan Collegiate prepared gift boxes for each of the children, who will attend school as soon as possible.
"They will have a big advantage coming in at this young age," said Denton. He has one simple but big hope for them: "That they will have a normal life as Canadians. We have the most successful multicultural society on the planet. It’s something I’m very proud of."