Syrian refugee family not coming to Revelstoke after withdrawing application

Revelstoke for Refugees has announced that the Almastou family from Syria, which has been slated to arrive in Revelstoke for over a year, have withdrawn their refugee application.

“The news is very disappointing for the broad-based community group which formed in the fall of 2015 to lend a hand as millions of Syrians were fleeing the war-ravaged country,” Revelstoke for Refugees said in a statement. “At the time, the Trudeau government had committed to bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada and communities across the country were raising money to sponsor families.”

Revelstoke for Refugees members raised the money and selected to sponsor the seven-member Almastou family.

For the past year the group has been waiting for the family to be processed in Jordan, but a series of bureaucratic delays kept pushing their expected arrival date back.

In a Mar. 21 statement, the group said the setback does not mean an end to the sponsorship efforts.

“Revelstoke for Refugees is planning to sponsor another Syrian family and is currently in the process of finding the best way to do so,” the group said. “A decision on how to proceed will likely be made in the next month.”