'Growing urgency': United Way creates website for donations to help asylum seekers

The United Way has created a special websiteaimed at solicitingdonations to help the wave of asylum seekers crossing into Manitoba from the United States and the flood of migrants expected to come as the weather warms.

"Community agencies at the front lines of caring for newcomers have expressed the need for more support. Thereality today is that with the influx of refugee claimants, these agencies are becoming overwhelmed," said Connie Walker, CEO of the United Way in Winnipeg.

Thenew website willmake it easy for people to donate and get updates onurgent needslike shelter, food, clothing, and items for personal hygiene.

Since the start of the year, 169 asylum seekers have made their way intoManitoba, including 19 who arrived overnight Tuesday into Wednesday,RCMPsaid.

Typically, there are50 to 60refugee claimant applications in a entire year, according toManitoba Interfaith Immigration Council.

That's all in addition to the sponsored refugees who make their way into Manitoba. Last year alone, there were about 3,000 refugees and immigrants who came to Winnipegtwice the number from 2015, Walker said.

Many ofthe newcomers avoid the official port of entry, walking throughsnowy fields under the cover of darkness and in sub-zero temperatures. Aid agencies say the asylum seekersare desperate and afraid, concerned about their safety in the U.S., and specifically being deported under U.S. President Donald Trump's new immigration bans.

• 'They almost froze to death': Refugees frostbitten after walking to Manitoba border
• 'We are part of the Canadian people' now, frostbitten refugee on road to recovery says

"Refugees don't make the journey just for the sake of it," saidAbdiAhmed, aco-ordinatorwithImmigration Partnership Winnipeg.

"Imagine leaving your home, leaving everything that you haveand making a journey to go to an uncertain place."

Asylum seekers enteringManitoba are looking "to find a place where they can find peace and a place where they can live in safety," said Ahmed, himself a refugee claimant who came from Somalia in 2003.

Sitti Ali, who arrived in Winnipeg three months ago after crossing the U.S.-Canada border, said she's been the recipient of support and is now reaching out to help other refugee claimants in need.

United Way creates website for donations to help asylum seekers

7 years ago

Duration 2:07

The United Way has created a special website aimed at soliciting donations to help the wave of asylum seekers crossing into Manitoba from the United States and the flood of migrants expected to come as the weather warms.

"I really like helping people. I [am] already volunteering at Welcome Place," said Ali. "So I really like to help people, any kind of people."

The crisis in Manitoba has made worldwide headlines and aid agencies in the province have been getting calls andemailsfrom people wondering about how to help,saidJodeneBaker, chair of the United Way's community investment committee.

The websitewill "give people an opportunity to be part of helping refugee claimants and the community agencies caring for them," saidBaker.

"This is about mobilizing our compassion and humanity to go further," she said.

Some of the money will also help agencies to hire contract staff to handle the increased demand, which is only expected to soar when the temperatures rise.

• 'We don't know what the numbers are going to do': Warmer weather could bring more asylum seekers
• UN lawyer to visit Manitoba to observe influx of asylum seekers
• Refugees in Winnipeg opening their homes to help recent wave of asylum seekers

"There is a growing urgency in Winnipeg,"a news release from theUnited Way stated.

"The need to help now [is] greater than ever," Walker said.

Ahmedcalled forManitobansto "come together to provide support, to provide protection" forpeople who will increasethe province's culture andenrich its society.

"We will continue to work closely with community partners in the coming weeks and months to keep everyone informed about the situation and how we're making a difference together," Baker said.

• Read full coverage of refugees crossing the U.S. border into Manitoba