Update from Omer — July 2022

Omer had hoped to visit the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to get an update about his case. However, he arrived at the UNHCR gates to discover a protest in progress. Omer was unable to access anyone in the organization in person or by phone. 

The number of refugees worldwide — including the Rohingya Muslims from China, refugees from Afghanistan, those fleeing the war in Ukraine, as well as refugees like Omer who are fleeing persecution for blasphemy and/or apostasy (four out of 10 countries worldwide continued to have laws against blasphemy and apostasy as of 2019) — has increased dramatically over the last 10 years.

Further complicating the situation is that COVID-19 has backed up Canada’s immigration intake. In spite of this, Omer remains optimistic that he will realize his dream of relocating to Canada this year. 

Both CFIC and Omer are incredibly grateful for the donations of members and supporters that have allowed us to help Omer through this difficult period. We have learned much about the plight of refugees and we hope that in addition to helping Omer, we will be able to use this knowledge in the future to make a difference in the lives of refugees. There is so much work to be done that it is overwhelming. But like the starfish story, CFIC focuses on the difference we can make.

Thank you to the donors who answered our call for assistance last month. We remain a few hundred dollars short of our target of having sufficient funds in the bank to continue to support Omer until the end of the year. If you can help, please consider supporting CFIC’s Assistance for Apostates (A4A) Program.