Source Countries: Chis Friesen and Refugee Claimants

source countries: They just walk, according to Metro News. Even individuals in wheelchairs have somehow crossed the grass to come into Canada, we're not quite sure how. Chis Friesen, settlement services director with the Immigrant Services Society of B.C., estimated that 80 per cent of the nearly 300 refugee claimants his organization has served in just the first three months of 2017, arrived on foot across the border from the U.S. into B.C. There is an underground railroad that supports these individuals coming from abroad, he explained. This is not new, but what is new is the increasing numbers and the diversity of the source countries, and the complexity of needs many of these families come with . At a press conference on Wednesday morning, the City of Vancouver stepped forward with more than 180,000 in funding to five local organizations at the front line of welcoming refugees. I was not the same Petros, the same person, when I was here back in November 2016, he told reporters. The mayor received thanks from an African refugee, Petros, who asked that his full name and nationality not be published for fear of reprisals against his family back home. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.