When you’re a refugee on the run and hiding in a hot apartment on the outskirts of a sprawling mega-city, it’s difficult not to worry. What else do you have to do?
You worry about getting caught and sent to an Immigration Detention Centre. You worry that for some reason, after some of the first positive developments in 7 years, your application for asylum in Canada will be rejected. And for the past 2 weeks the Sunil family has been worrying that a rising Covid case count in Thailand would mean their medical checkup would be canceled.
Fortunately, the checkup went ahead today as scheduled. Another step in their long journey towards Canada is complete. Now, their biggest concern is the soreness in their arms due to the vaccine injections they received. (not Covid vaccine, but the vaccinations Canadian children typically receive.)
Ordinarily the medical checkup performed by the International Organization for Migration on behalf of the Canadian government is one of the last steps before transportation is arranged, and the refugees are flying to Canada. But these are not ordinary times.
There are refugees arriving in Canada, after being tested for Covid, and there is a system of quarantine the government has approved, but understandably the worldwide pandemic has slowed the arrival of refugees into Canada. While it seems the Sunils are moving towards arrival here we still don’t know when it will happen.
The family has seen this website and asked us to thank all the people supporting their case.
Mr Sunil says we are in their prayers, and they look forward to meeting us all and thanking us in person.
There are still several steps before that can happen, but optimistically the family has an appointment to receive their second vaccinations next month. Until then they’ll have lots of time to worry.