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SASKATOONEXPRESS - December 14-20, 2015 - Page 1
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Volume 13, Issue 50, Week of December 14, 2015
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Ready to greet refugees
Open Door executive director takes over at busy time
Joanne Paulson Saskatoon Express n a sunny, unseasonably warm December day, Ali Abukar strides across Third Avenue in his suit and tie, coat-free, with a nametag on a lanyard around his neck. He’s returning to the Saskatoon Open Door Society office from a community meeting, where the topic of how to settle Syrian refugees into Saskatoon was under discussion. Abukar is more or less constantly in such meetings, including a recent forum hosted by Gov. Gen. David Johnston. When the Express caught up to him, he had been in the Open Door Society’s executive director’s chair for less than two weeks. Abukar hit the ground running. He had the experience to jump right in, both personally and professionally. Originally from Somalia, and educated in Egypt and Canada, the multi-lingual Ali Abukar is the new executive director of the Saskatoon Open Door Society (Photo by Joanne Paulson) Abukar’s first post-master’s job was with Open Door. He came to Saskatoon after with our partners. We are having meetings notification and arrival, “it could be as felt forced to leave by age 17. graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University and conference calls every week, here and little as 48 hours this time,” said Abukar. “The problems in my country and the in Kitchener-Waterloo, starting as a settle- across the country.” Even so, he is not worried. The Open civil war made it difficult for people like ment support worker, moving up to team In the first wave, Abukar expects 29 Door staff, which numbers between 150 me to stay,” he said. leader, and is now the executive director. privately-sponsored refugees and perhaps and 160, has the experience to manage the That’s when Abukar first started It is a busy time, as Canada prepares a couple of families who are government- new arrivals; they do it hundreds of times learning about paperwork and immigrato welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees by assisted. However, in the second, larger every year. They’re ready to help with tion rules. He got a visa, got on a plane, the end of the year, and 25,000 by the wave coming in early 2016, there will be housing, health cards, opening bank acand landed in Cairo as an asylum seeker end of February 2016. Abukar still does more of the latter. counts, and preparing refugees for staying with the United Nations (UN) Agency for not know how many refugees will come “That is probably when we will get warm in a Saskatchewan winter, among Refugees. to Saskatoon, but he’s remarkably calm more coming to Saskatoon,” said Abukar. many other services. The system in Egypt is significantly difabout it. The Open Door Society, after all, Where things might get a bit intense “We feel that we are ready. It just a mat- ferent from Canada’s, he said. It’s clearly has welcomed people to Saskatoon for 35 is in the timing. The government issues ter of receiving people,” said Abukar. important to him that people understand years. arrival notifications to settlement organizathe differences and difficulties facing “It is not an emergency,” said Abukar tions, while describing the initial needs Knowing the ropes immigrants around the world, to provide in an interview. “It’s (about) co-ordinating of refugees. Ali Abukar was born and grew up in the perspective on today’s refugees. ENCH.starphoenixad_genericTOSP.pdf 1 15-11-17 1:58 PMUsually, there’s a reasonable with everyone. We are in close contact head’s up. In this case, however, between civil war-torn nation of Somalia, which he (Continued on page 7)
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