Stratford family asking for help to resettle family members displaced by Syrian earthquake

A Syrian family that has been living in Stratford after immigrating to Canada as refugees in 2016 is asking their new community for help resettling as many as 55 close family members recently forced from their homes in Turkey by last month’s devastating earthquakes.

Speaking with the Beacon Herald Friday, Mohammad Zoba and son Abdullah Zoba said the homes of many of their close family members in Turkey, including that of Mohammad’s sister, were reduced to rubble by the earthquakes that hit the region Feb. 6 and have since killed more than 50,000 people.

“Their houses got destroyed (and) they’re living in a camp out on the street,” Abdullah said. “That’s where they are right now.”

While no close family members were killed or seriously injured as a result of the earthquakes, they only managed to escape their homes with the clothes on their backs, the Zobas said. Mohammad said his sister and her family have nothing but the food and supplies provided by disaster-relief organizations like the Red Cross and their Turkish neighbors less affected by the quakes.

Many of Mohammad and Abdullah’s family members currently living in Turkey left their previous homes in Syria to escape the civil war in that country.

With so many homes in Turkey destroyed by the earthquakes, Mohammad said his family members are unable to find permanent housing they can afford. He said he’s hoping he and his family can work with the Multicultural Association of Perth Huron and the Local Immigration Partnership – an organization that helps newcomers and refugees settle across Huron, Perth, Bruce, Oxford, Wellington and Middlesex counties – to help them fill out immigration paperwork so they can find new homes in Stratford and the surrounding region.

“I love Canada because now I live here six years,” said Mohammad, who runs a local painting business with his sons. “All our families have citizenships. I love Canada for safety, for everything here and for family.”

As the multicultural association and settlement co-ordinators with the partnership works through the complex immigration process with the Zobas’ family members, association executive director Geza Wordofa said they are looking to the community for local groups or organizations that can act as sponsors, as well as host families who can offer temporary housing and monetary donations to help set them up in their new homes.

In the meantime, Wordofa and the Multicultural Association of Perth Huron is working with the local Syrian and Turkish communities, as well as the London Multicultural Community Association, to collect donations of non-perishable food items and over-the-counter medications to send to Turkey to assist with disaster relief efforts there.

Anyone interested in assisting with the resettlement effort or donating to the earthquake relief effort can contact the Multicultural Association of Perth Huron at 1-888-910-1583 or [email protected]. Monetary donations can also be made online by visiting maph.ca.

According to data from the Canada Border Services Agency, more than 3,000 people from Turkey and Syria have entered Canada as part of an expedited immigration process offered by the federal government following the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

[email protected]