The Or Shalom Special Resettlement Initiative (OSSRI), affiliated with Or Shalom synagogue in Vancouver, Canada, is a refugee sponsorship group dedicated to helping refugee families resettle in Canada. We have sponsored refugees since the 1970’s – since 2016 we have sponsored nine families totaling almost 40 individuals from Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
We are currently fundraising to support the resettlement of Sudanese refugees currently residing in Israel to Canada. In the short term, we hope to bring two of them to Vancouver with any additional monies raised being applied to refugee resettlement through OSSRI. In the context of this short-term campaign, we hope you will support Mutwali and Sedig – both have been in Israel since 2011 and neither has been granted refugee status. Furthermore, in light of the lack of a functioning central government in Sudan, and widespread violence and food insecurity, returning to Sudan is not an option. This leaves them and other Sudanese refugees in Israel in ongoing limbo making it difficult for them to start a family or advance professionally. We hope and believe that this sponsorship will facilitate a better future in Canada.
The OSSRI has met its target for this wave of refugee assistance.
You can donate to the OSSRI fund here. If you do not have an Or Shalom account yet, just let us know and we’ll create one for you within a few hours of your request.
