After three years of hard work, the Hanif family have finally arrived in Canada, coming from Afghanistan by way of India.
The hard work of a community group called Newmarket Together, which is made up of residents and local dignitaries, culminated in a community welcome lunch at Trinity United Church in Newmarket Saturday afternoon.
The Hanif Family — Samiullah and Brikhna and their children, Omar, Sahar, and Hera — arrived in Canada on Jan. 25 three years after Newmarket Together began the process of helping the family leave a refugee camp in India to which they had fled to escape war in Afghanistan.
“I’m very happy to come to Canada and I’m thankful for all of Newmarket,” said Samiullah. “It’s so fantastic here and I’m very proud to be part of this community.”
Samiullah said spending the last three years in India as refugees was difficult due to limitations on finding work and accessing health care.
“There were a lot of difficulties for us over there,” he said. “That’s why this is such an excellent moment for us.”
Abdul Hanif, Samiullah’s brother, has been living in Canada since 2008 and with him living in Newmarket, it made the process much smoother for the Hanif family. The family will be living in Abdul’s basement apartment with the children set to attend Meadowbrook Public School.
“I’m so happy and everyone is so thrilled to see them here safe,” said Abdul. “We can’t thank the Newmarket community enough, they made the dream come true. Alone, we couldn’t have done anything, but with the beautiful community of Newmarket, we were able to get them here.”
Ali Mroue, a Newmarket Together member who spearheaded the efforts alongside Jill Kellie, said it’s amazing to finally see the family in their new home. He himself came to Canada from Lebanon in the '80s to escape civil war.
Having seen firsthand the impact that living in a war-torn country can have on a family makes this experience that much more special to Mroue.
“It’s amazing to see the looks in the kids’ eyes,” he said. “They’re going to blossom here. They want to go to university, one of them wants to be a lawyer and another wants to be a doctor. These kids have dreams and now it can happen. You can’t put how important this is into words.”
The lengthy process to meet the requirements set by the government to bring the Hanif family to Newmarket included needing to meet financial requirements, which Mroue says the community stepped up to fulfill.
Mayor John Taylor was one of the many members of Newmarket Together who worked to get the Hanif family to Canada and he credits the community for doing everything they could to support the initiative.
“People are so wanting to help and it makes you proud as a mayor to see the community step up,” he said. “I always say I want us to be one of the most inclusive and welcoming communities in Canada, and when you watch something like this happen, you know that’s what we are.”
