• Also read: Refugees: Quebec overwhelmed since Trudeau’s tweet
• Also read: Roxham Road: hotel, food and welfare for migrants
• Also read: Why do refugees use Roxham Road?
Forced to sleep on the floor
After their temporary stay in a hotel, refugee applicants are often completely destitute, sometimes forced to sleep on the floor despite being on welfare.
Finding a roof in the Montreal area is quite a challenge for them due to the real estate crisis.
Photo courtesy of Maryse Poisson
Maryse Fish
Collective welcome
“The only affordable housing they will find is poor quality housing infested with bed bugs, cockroaches or mice,” explains Maryse Poisson of Collectif Bienvenue, a Montreal-based organization that provides furniture and clothing to refugee families.
“Before coming to their rescue, some families sleep in their homes with their newborns on the floor on a sheet,” she adds.
It goes without saying that the increase in traffic on Roxham Road this year has put pressure on organizations like Ms Poisson’s.
underfunding
These must rely on public charity to raise funds and basic needs.
“We don’t see much commitment from the state government towards us. We live with chronic underfunding,” says Ms. Poisson.
The situation of the families is all the more precarious as their relatives have to wait a long time before they receive a work permit with which they could supplement their income.
human distress
Marjorie Villefranche, general director of the Maison d’Haïti, also notes “human emergencies” among refugees.
“Confronted with this, community organizations don’t get additional grants,” she says. It’s clear we’re not going to let people down, so we’re working overtime. »
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