The letter continues: “My parents, sisters and brothers are living in very difficult circumstances, without access to adequate shelter, food, water and electricity in Dohuk, Iraq. They have no financial support and are living in extreme poverty. In addition, they are constantly at risk of further violence and persecution by ISIS. My husband, sister and brother-in-law are still missing and I fear the worst. Moreover, there are 16 members of my husband's family who remain missing as well. I worry for my missing family members and for my family who remain in danger in Dohuk and this consumes my mind. I am unable to sleep or eat because of my worry. I cannot concentrate at school. I am having difficulty learning English. My thinking and focus is so bad that I'm considering dropping out of school, even though I realize that if I do not learn English I will have difficulty integrating into Canadian society. The only way that I find peace is by having my family reunited. I respectfully request that the government help me bring my family, who is in Dohuk, Iraq, here to Canada, where they can be safe.” She lists her father, mother, siblings and the husband's sister. “I also plead with the government to do more to try to find those from the Yazidi community who continue to be missing in Iraq. Please help me reunite with my family. Without my family here, I will not be able to successfully resettle in Canada.”
This is another: “I am writing today to ask the Canadian government to help bring my family here because it is just me and my brother alone. On August the 3, 2014, I was captured by ISIS, and the next day I was raped and taken by one man to Tal Afar to live with him for 16 months. I had to go with him everywhere he went even when he was fighting in the war. He beat me a lot. If I did something that he didn't like, he would beat me and rape me. In 2016 I was able to escape and fled from Tal Afar to the Sinjar Mountains, and eventually to Kurdistan. I arrived in Canada on December 21, 2017 with my brother. My family was captured by ISIS, but they were able to escape before me in 2015. They are living in a camp in Kurdistan. My brother, my sister, my mother, my brother and father are all living in a camp in poor living conditions. My sister is living in a different camp with her husband and three children. When ISIS came to our village, my cousin tried to escape by driving a car and he unfortunately got into an accident. From that accident he has injured his leg and now has difficulty straightening his leg and trouble walking. My cousin is living in the same camp in Sulaymaniyah with his wife and four kids.”
It continues: “Since arriving in Canada I've been visiting a psychiatrist. I suffer from very bad headaches because I'm always worried about my family. I have trouble sleeping, and when I sleep I can only sleep for an hour before waking up again. Sometimes I cannot breathe and I feel like my breathing is trapped in my chest. My brother is the same as me and is thinking a lot about our family. I appreciate the Canadian government to help us and I hope they can bring our family here so we can start focusing on rebuilding our lives here in a safe place.”
Here is another: “I'm writing today to request your help reuniting my family members who are still in Iraq. I truly believe the only way for me to be able to successfully resettle in Canada and become an active member in my community is to bring my family together once again. Even with all the help I am currently receiving in Calgary, I don't think I'll ever be able to feel at ease in Canada as long as my family is not safe here with me.”
It continues: “On August 3, 2014, ISIS came to Sinjar, Iraq, and we tried to escape but ISIS captured us. After we were captured they separated me from my husband. I also have two sons who were taken from me when we were in Tal Afar, Iraq. I was there in Tal Afar for five months and was reunited with my husband at that time. ISIS then took all the men to “a mosque” and from that day I haven't seen him again. My youngest son was able to escape. My oldest son, who was 12 years old when I last saw him, I was told by my youngest son that he was killed by ISIS. I was sold along with my youngest two children and forced to marry someone from Morocco. He was killed in the war and I was again sold and forced to marry another man. For two weeks I tried to find out information about my son and discovered where he was through networks. I managed to conceal him in a vehicle with me that was going to Turkey, but I met with some anti-ISIS fighters on the way and they helped me and my children get back to Iraq. I managed to find my sister and stayed with her for four months. With the help I got from the UN, I was brought to Canada with my children.”
It continues: “Here is a list of my family members who I desperately want to be reunited with:” She lists her sister; her daughter remains in captivity; her husband's whereabouts is unknown; his brother—they have located him and he's living with his wife and three children in a camp; her husband's brother is living in a different camp; his uncle is living in a camp; and a niece. “Being separated from my family is greatly affecting me. I think about them every day. I am terrified about the safety of my daughter and husband. I can't sleep well at all due to worrying about them. I don't feel that I am able to function here properly, and I can't focus on resettling here. I am mentally very affected by the experiences I have been through. I am scared all the time. I am still constantly in fear that my children could be taken away from me. This will take time to heal, but I cannot heal properly without the rest of my family being here safe too.”
It continues: “I have no supports here to help me, and I am trying to raise three children by myself after all this. If my family were here with me, I know I would have some peace, and they would be able to support me and my children. I have suffered some of my physical injuries from a bomb, which affects my ability to walk as well. Many of the family members I have mentioned are living in very hard conditions with no proper housing and things are not safe for them. I am very grateful to the Canadian government for helping me to come here with my three children, but I am respectfully requesting that they continue to help me by bringing my family here, too, who not safe where they are. I hope the Government of Canada will respond to this plea.”
Here is another: “We are writing to you today because we need help from the government to bring our family here to Canada. We arrived in Canada on December 21, 2017—my husband, three kids and my sister. On August 3, 2014, ISIS came to our village and was forcing us to be Muslim. They gave the villages time to consider and think about converting. We stayed in the village for nine days while ISIS surrounded the village. One night some of the ISIS members left to fight, so I escaped with my family. We walked for two days and reached the mountains, and then went on to Kurdistan. My sister was left with ISIS at the time and was held captive for almost a year.”
Again, there are two people who are writing this letter. This is the woman: “It is very important for us to have our family here. Back at home in the camp there is no food, no water, no money. My sister is living in one camp. Her tent was burned down and now has to live—with her husband and daughter—with my parents. My father and my mother are also living in this camp, and have lived there since 2015. When I talk to my family they do not feel safe, and report there is no food and no water. Day after day the living conditions get worse. My grandparents are living in the Sinjar Mountains, and both have physical disabilities. They are living with my uncle, and they also have no food and water. My other sister is living in the camp, and has lived there since 2014 with her husband and one daughter. I believe that God saved my sister because ISIS tried to shoot her, but shot the sheet beside her instead.”
This is the man writing: “My father and mother are living in a camp with my three sisters and three brothers. They have lived there in poor living conditions since 2014. Since arriving in Canada, we feel safe here, but we have bad moods because my family is not here with us. It is difficult to focus and we are not happy because our families are back home, and we are always worrying about them. We appreciate the government bringing us here safe, but nobody knows what it's like to be back home. When we talk to our family they tell us how bad it is to live there. We told our family that we are writing these letters to the Canadian government, and everyone was happy and jumping.”
This is a different letter: “I arrived in Canada seven months ago. I arrived with my five children. In 2014, my husband and children and myself were all captured by ISIS. I was separated from my husband and son, and my daughters and I were held in captivity by ISIS for over two years. I have not been in contact with my husband and son, and I don't know what happened to them, or where they are right now. I want to ask the Canadian government to help me reunite with my family so that I might be able to resettle here in Canada. My entire family is living in a camp in Iraq: my three sisters”—she lists them and continues—“my three brothers and my mother. My family has been living in this camp since fleeing ISIS in 2014. I am able to stay in contact with my family, and they tell me in the camp that there is no water, no food, and my family has no money. My brother got bitten by a snake about a month ago, and he lost a toe. He continues to lose a lot of blood and be in a lot of pain.”
It continues: “My mother has been sick for the last four months. She has high blood pressure, diabetes and pain in her leg. Please help bring my mother here. I am in a safe place here in Canada, but my mental health is not good because I am separated from my family. All day and all night I am focused on my kids, because I am afraid of what ISIS did to us while we were in captivity. My kids also have poor mental health. One of my children has trouble hearing, and another one of my children has a disability. I need someone to be with me to help me with my kids. I am alone here—no brothers, no sisters, no husband. I have to take my children to many medical appointments by myself. Please help me reunite with my family.”
This is another letter: “I am writing to request your help in reuniting me with my family. I came to Canada in December 2017, after my family and I suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of ISIS. ISIS came to my village on August 3, 2014, where I was living with my husband and five children. We were held in captivity in our village for several days before the men were taken away to be executed. My husband was shot three times and left for dead, but he survived and managed to escape. The women and children were taken away and most were sold into sexual slavery, including my 15-year-old daughter, 11-year-old daughter and one-year-old daughter. My oldest son was taken to be trained as a suicide bomber, while my younger son was taken to be taught the Quran. When I was sold to a Muslim man and pretended to be a faithful Muslim woman, I gained my captor's trust and he returned my two sons to me. Eventually, my children and I escaped to a camp after a ransom was paid by my family.”
It continues: “ISIS destroyed my extended family. Most of the men in my family were killed by ISIS, including my father and three brothers. My husband's family too has been decimated. Most of his family continue to be missing and presumed dead. My mother is missing and may be in captivity with ISIS, or she may have already been killed. My husband, children and I have been provided safety and a chance for a future in Canada. I am hoping the Canadian government will provide the same opportunity for my remaining relatives who are alive, namely, my aunts and their families. I have four aunts who live in various camps in Iraq who I would like to bring to Canada so that they can be safe. My aunts and their family are...”. They go into great detail here, and then it goes on: “My aunts and their families are all the family that I have left in the world. I am very worried about them because they do not have their basic needs met, such as access to clean water, food or adequate shelter. My mind is always preoccupied with the thoughts of my family. Because my mind is always thinking and worrying about my family, I am unable to concentrate and learn at school. I worry that my ongoing separation from my family is preventing me from successfully resettling into Canada. Please help reunite our family so that we can help support each other, heal from our trauma and work towards a productive future in Canada.”
The next letter states: “I am writing to request your help in reuniting me with my family. I am writing to request the unification of my six brothers”—they list the names—“my sister and my mother. They are all living in...”. They list the tents, the names, that they're living in, in the specific camp, and it continues: “I came to Canada in January 2018. In 2014, our family escaped ISIS by running to safety on Sinjar Mountains. My family then ran away from ISIS by travelling to Kurdistan, where we were separated because I was taking care of my sister who had escaped ISIS, and therefore we were offered resettlement in Canada so that my sister could remain safe. Since coming to Canada, we have been suffering without our family. Our hearts are heavy and missing our family. We are very worried for them, since they are not safe in the camp, and they have no money, food, medicine or shelter. Please help reunite our family so that we can support each other and work towards a productive future in Canada.”
Another letter states: “I am requesting your help reuniting with my families so that I can successfully resettle.”
I'll just pause for a moment, because I hear the chair whispering that there is a same line.... Many of these refugees have been supported by immigration resettlement services in Canada that have been advocating on their behalf for their reunification. Of course they are going to have help drafting letters. This was not done at my behest. These are letters that have come to me from resettlement services agencies.