OTTAWA — Femi Biobaku came to Canada more than a year ago fleeing persecution from the Nigerian authorities, forcing him to leave his wife, two children, community and job as an accountant back home.
He landed in Ottawa in July 2022 and stayed with a host family for nearly a month before moving into a dorm at the Ottawa Mission homeless shelter, where things took a turn for the worse.After leaving Nigeria, the newcomer said, living at the shelter for about a month re-traumatized him, leading him to consider suicide.
And after receiving his work permit, Biobaku has been employed by Matthew House's furniture bank — a program that helps newcomers and low-income families in Ottawa furnish their homes. Before the pandemic, Reesor-McDowell said, refugees would stay in these homes for three to four months before moving to more permanent housing, but now it's around six months.The refugee crisis has escalated for a decade, long neglected by the Canadian government, he said."If you don't address something that's staring you in the face for years, eventually it catches up to you.
"It's not that complicated, we already know what to do," said Reesor McDowell."We have programs that are super effective low-cost. We just need more of that capacity across the country and then it's not a problem." Reesor-McDowell said that instead of contributing to programs that welcome and support asylum seekers, the feds have invested in temporary and less cost-effective options such as hotels.
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