Pervaiz Family Refugee Sponsorship

Intro: This GoFundMe campaign is raising funds to sponsor 8 adult members (+ 1 child) of a Pakistani Christian family who fled Pakistan in 2014 due to religious persecution resulting from being accused of violating blasphemy laws. They are currently in Thailand, and hoping to relocate to Canada as refugees.

I am working with the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) to assist the family. Once funds are raised the CCIS will find a catholic church to act as the sponsoring group that will help them settle in Canada. The funds will be transferred to the church, and any remaining refugee application documents will be finished up and then submitted to the Canadian Government for approval. They (the church) will be responsible for helping and providing for the family for a year.

 

Background Story: In the fall of 2020, I was contacted by one of the members of this family, Faraz Pervaiz, who asked if I would write an article telling his story and that of his family. That’s how we met. Having gotten to know him and other family members over the last year, I have been working with them to find a way of relocating to Canada as refugees. Though only 9 (8 adults + one child) will be covered in this sponsorship, there are 17 members of the family in all: Faraz, his wife, and two children; his parents; an older sister, her husband, and their two children; another older sister, who is married; two younger sisters, and one younger brother.

Thankfully, Faraz, his wife and children have already been sponsored and will be going elsewhere. Also, an older sister and her family are now safely in Europe. This leaves 8 adult family members who need sponsorship, who are the focus of this fundraising campaign.

 

Picture of 7 of the 8 family members whose sponsorship these funds are being raised for.

Left to Right: Son, Daughter, Daughter, Daughter + her Husband, Father, Mother.

[Faraz, not shown here, is the eldest son in the family]

 

Faraz and his father originally got into trouble through events surrounding some 2013 attacks on Christians in the city of Lahore, Pakistan; where they spoke out and were involved in protests. There had also previously been unrelated conflict over a Christian music event they had tried to organize. Later, calls for their death due to accusations of blasphemy forced they and the rest of the family to flee in late 2013 and 2014, lest they and the family suffer retribution at the hands of angry religious zealots. They’ve been in Thailand ever since, trying to find a safe country to take them in as refugees. They have received little help from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Thailand, other than getting their UNHCR cards, designating them as official refugees.

 

Thailand hasn’t proven to be safe either. In 2019, their location in the city of Bangkok was shared on social media by a local Muslim refugee, resulting in calls for jihadis to go and kill the family. They were able to escape to a new hiding place; but are now known to be in Thailand, and therefore very unsafe.

There is constant danger of being found – with the real possibility they would be killed. A danger made worse by a large bounty on Faraz’s head from the Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik. Going outside much is unsafe, making supporting themselves difficult. Even before this, they had significant troubles. Thailand considers refugees to be illegal immigrants, as they aren’t a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. In 2014, twelve family members were arrested and taken to an immigration detention facility – including the four children. There was no recourse but to slowly bail everyone out one by one as money became available. Two of Faraz’s younger sisters were only released earlier this year.

As of now, Thailand seems to be making moves towards re-detaining many refugees. It doesn't affect the family yet, but there is a danger it might again in the future.

 

Process to get them here: As mentioned above, once funds are raised, the CCIS will work to find a catholic church who will act as the sponsoring group for the 8 adult (+ 1 child) family members. Once the applications are finished and sent to the Canadian Government, it becomes a waiting game. After approval, the timeline is uncertain, but we’ve been told to expect it to take 2 years at least, and possibly up to 5 before they arrive in Canada. A miracle is always possible, and we should hope and pray for one, but we are also prepared for this to be a long process. On one hand, that gives lots of time for the sponsoring church to prepare, but it’s not great for the family being stuck in limbo in Thailand even longer than they already have been.

 

Cost: The sponsoring church would administer all financial costs to support the family for one year once they arrive in Canada. Those funds are what we are raising with this GoFundMe campaign.

During discussions with the CCIS, it was estimated that the total costs needing to be raised to support the family for a year would be about $80,000 CAD. It sounds like a big number, but when you realize that it will support a family of 8 adults and a child for a year, it’s suddenly not as much as it sounds.

 

For those interested, a table of the total costs required to pay can be found here. Even though they are all part of the same family, because they are all adults, they will be treated as comprising three couples (plus a child), and 2 single adults. If you add that up, you’ll notice the total is higher than $80,000. But there are cost savings that can be had if some or all of the family lives together. Keep in mind too that GoFundMe also charges 2.9% + $0.30 on every donation.

 

There is also an additional cost which is optional to take on. The cost of plane tickets to Canada, which will be loaned to the refugee’s interest free from the Canadian Government, but will need to be repaid. It is entirely optional, and we (the sponsors, fundraisers, doners) don’t need to pay it. But if additional funds can be raised for airfare, it would be one less thing for this family to worry about. It’s impossible to predict cost of air travel 2 – 5 years from now, but if additional money over the needed $80,000 is raised, it will go towards that first.

 

Practically, there will always be additional, unforeseen costs. Most of them speak English (except for the Mother), but it’s likely several would benefit from ESL classes anyways. Or getting a driver’s license. Or maybe someone loses something, or an appliance breaks, etc. There will always be extra costs. The minimum needed is $80,000. If plane tickets are added (say $800/person including GoFundMe fees), it would add $7,200 to our goal. A total of $87,200.

 

So let’s consider Goal 1 as $80,000. The minimum needed to bring the family here together.

Goal 2 adds an extra $7,200 for travel from Thailand to Canada, for a total of $87,200.

If additional funds over Goal 2 are raised, they will be held by the sponsoring church, and used for the family if anything extra is needed. After their first year in Canada is over, any extra funds will either be gifted to the family, donated to help other refugees, or split between those two options.

 

I realize that sounds intimidating, but there are so many generous people in Canada and elsewhere, and I believe we can help this family together. We can get them safely to Canada so they can begin rebuilding their lives. We can make it so that they don’t have to be afraid every time they step outside simply because they lived out their faith.