Thank you, Ms. Roulet.
Today we are sharing our first-hand accounts of the realities we regularly encounter in our work with asylum seekers.
One of the main issues we want to talk about today is access to housing. We know that there is constant pressure on the rental market and that affordable housing is in short supply. Asylum seekers also face barriers such as discrimination and a lack of awareness of their status, requiring them to provide things they cannot provide because they are newcomers, such as their credit history. All of this limits their access to housing in general.
Then there is access to services, including legal services, which are difficult to access for immigrants in general, and more particularly for asylum seekers. Since their journey involves legal matters, they need legal representation.
Access to health and social services is also difficult. Like any vulnerable person whose journey is quite complex, these people have physical and psychological needs, but their access to health services is often limited because of a lack of knowledge or understanding of the coverage offered by the interim federal health program.
As a frontline organization, we act as a facilitator of access to care and as a community actor in an intercultural context. Sometimes we provide training to service providers so that they better understand the services that this medical coverage can provide access to, but there are still barriers to access that are simply related to a lack of knowledge of this coverage.
On the other hand, as a community organization, we are constantly adapting. While resources are limited, whether human resources or financial resources, we are forced to adapt to meet the significant needs of people in vulnerable situations, including asylum seekers. This situation, where community organizations have to adapt and do a lot with little, can’t last. They need stable financial support.