Bringing Hope to a Refugee Family !
The Limbu family – Dilliswor, Aruna, Atit & Samyog
Timeline & Updates
September 11th 2019 : Limbu family arrives at Pearson International Airport, Toronto, from Bangkok via Seoul, as permanent residents of Canada. Finally an end to a 17 year saga of fear, on the run and hopelessness.
September 3rd 2019: Fundraiser to support the Limbu Family created
Aug 13th 2019: As mandated by Thailand law, the Limbu family has been moved into IDC ( a Thai Detention Centre), for a month, before their departure. This is standard procedure for all refugees or aliens in Thailand, before they exit Thailand for any other country for resettlement. The conditions in this centre are pretty squalid and tough.
July 8th 2019: IRCC (Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada) has issued a permanent resident visa for the Limbu family. A request has been sent to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to proceed with final resettlement arrangements and they are expected to arrive in Canada on 11th September 2019
March 2019: The Limbu family appeared for an interview with the Canadian Immigration authorities in Bangkok, Thailand. They successfully completed the interview and qualified this stage. They have been asked to expect their medical examination in the next 6 to 9 months.
Sep 2017: We are pleased to announce that Immigration Canada has approved our application to sponsor the Limbu family’s immigration to Canada. Processing of their PR application has begun at the Embassy in Singapore and could take up to a year for processing.
May 2017 : Application to Sponsor this family was submitted to Immigration Canada in May 2017. Processing of their application is expected to take at least 1 year. Stand by for more updates….
The Limbu family were forced to flee the violent Civil War in Nepal during the previous decade . They were among the innocents caught in the crossfire in the brutal war between the Nepalese Army and the Rebel Maoists. Dilliswor was suspected and tortured by one and put on a “Death List” by the other, leaving him with no option to flee his village and plan his exit from Nepal, to get away from the dragnet of informers and executors of that “Death List”. First they lost their small business, overnight they lost their home and everything they had worked for and known in their lives. After remaining in hiding, they managed to leave Nepal with help of a few good friends and family members.
Arriving in Bangkok in September 2005, they registered with UNHCR as refugees. Since then living in a refugee camp in Thailand with no rights to work legally or with no access to schools for their children, the going has been rough to try and make two ends meet or survive. After a few years when the civil war in Nepal ended, their UNHCR hand outs/ benefits ended too. This made conditions for them worse. Returning to Nepal was and is not an option. Dilliswor remains on the hit list of one of the side, who since the end of the civil war, now have access to political power, and are known for their revengeful ways.
Unable to return to Nepal and with no help from UNHCR for resettlement in a third country, they have been forced to remain as refugees in Thailand. Since they are not allowed to work in Thailand and rules have become stricter, despite their best efforts, source of income are far and few. They live on the grace and goodwill of Samaritans in Bangkok. Their children are growing up uneducated as they do not have access to schools. As if this was not bad enough, certain religious organizations offered to resettle them in a Western country, in return if they switched their faith/religion. They refused to comply – and have since been stuck in limbo for the last 6 years, with no one to turn to for help.
The details of their journey and harrowing experience over the last 17 years is heartbreaking. It goes into many pages and justice cannot to be covered by trying to cover it in entirety, in a single webpage. Their journey and story is available in full with us and do CONTACT US to learn more.
When we @Srishti heard this story through their friends in the same refugee camp, but now Canadian citizens here, we decided to act.
Srishti Foundation with help of 5 families in our community are sponsoring this family to resettle in Canada, under the “Group of 5 Refugee Sponsorship Program” of the Federal Government. An attempt to bring hope, future and respect to this family, as Canadians.
In order to support this family’s journey to Canada and help them settle down in Canada, in the absence of any Government help to do so, any generous support to this cause is appreciated. This will offer anyone who is interested to contribute, an opportunity to bring hope to this family.
If you wish to contribute to this cause, CLICK HERE to either donate or contact us.