COVID-19 causes delays for student refugee resettlement program

A non-profit organization that resettles refugees from six asylum countries to pursue their educations at Canadian post-secondary schools is hoping COVID-19 international travel restrictions will ease in time for this year’s cohort to arrive for the winter semester.

The Student Refugee Program, run by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), recruits students to further their education at 98 campus partners across the country.

Over the last four decades, the organization has resettled 1,900 young refugees who passed the rigorous application, examination and interview process to attend post-secondary school in Canada.

Christine Mylks, manager of overseas programming at WUSC, said the pandemic is affecting each of the asylum countries — Uganda, Kenya, Jordan, Malawi, Tanzania and Lebanon — differently. Some refugee camps and service providers have not been able to facilitate virtual interviews yet for 2021 applicants because the virus has forced closures.

About 130 students were meant to arrive this fall, but the COVID-19 closures affected visa offices and embassies.

“I think some students have rolled with it, and other students, of course, it's very disappointing,” said Mylks. “Depending on the stability of the situation they're living in presently, it can be quite upsetting to not have a confirmed travel date.”

Some students are taking the time to continue working on their language skills or volunteering with local public health and education initiatives.

In the 2018-19 academic year, WUSC resettled 128 refugees with the support of more than 1,000 staff, faculty and volunteers, according to its annual report.

Campus partnerships are an important part of its funding model. Student levy fees in 2018-19 raised $3 million for the program, which allowed it to expand recruitment and add Uganda as part of its roster of asylum countries. Syrian refugees have also participated in the program. On average, the fee costs Canadian students less than $5 per semester, the WUSC annual report states.

Alykhan Jetha, a third-year economics and math student at the University of Toronto and president of the WUSC local committee at Trinity College, is helping to steer his team remotely as the campus faces COVID-19 closures.

Around this time, his committee would be preparing for student arrivals from the asylum countries. But pandemic travel restrictions will delay student sponsorships until at least December, Jetha said, giving the Canadian students time to implement reforms and improve how they serve incoming refugee students.

The focus of WUSC is to empower students, Jetha said, “I think a big part of that empowerment comes from controlling your own finances.” To that end, his group is working on expediting how sponsored students file reimbursement claims for their eligible supplies and textbooks and inviting them to take on leadership positions with the committee.

A WUSC engineering student who arrived last summer said he is finding the adjustment to life in Canada more difficult now because of the limited work opportunities due to the pandemic. Still, he said his goal is not to “make money…I want to make a difference in society.”

The student – who requested not to be named because he wishes to keep his migration status private – said he applied to at least 20 jobs in the last few months. “It was hard saving money, especially with the pandemic.” He is now volunteering with his local WUSC chapter and hopes his efforts will help to expand the program to other campuses in Canada.

Vjosa Isai / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada's National Observer