Gay Man Shares Experience With Seeking Asylum in Canada: "It Humbled Me"
- Kenyan George Barasa has detailed how his relocation to Canada on asylum started on a low note after the sponsor left him broke and homeless
- He remembered how he was called out of the blue and informed to sign some papers to show that he was officially out of the sponsorship
- Barasa added that the experience humbled him so much that these days he empathizes with anyone who is a refugee
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A few years ago, Kenyan George "Joji" Barasa left the country in search of asylum in Canada hoping to leave his past behind and start over a new leaf.
Source: UGC
As much as the relocation went smooth, the reality check hit him not long after settling in the new home.
In a long emotional post on Facebook, Joji poured his heart out about the things that went wrong and how every incident humbled him to the core.
According to him, people think that asylum is an easy way to move abroad, unaware that it reduces someone to their lowest.
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"It humbled me. Right now if I see a refugee I just sympathize and empathize with them," he wrote.
He relived that things started going wrong when he decided to kickstart his life after being resettled.
Stranded
To begin with, he did not have a Black person with the knowledge to show him the way around and about.
"White People kept on making one mistake after another thinking they are really helping and they put much effort into making faults," he expressed.
Not long after, his sponsors called him to a meeting and broke the news that his sponsorship had been terminated halfway.
He was, therefore, asked to sign some documents agreeing with the decision, which meant that he officially had nowhere to go, no money, and no idea what to do.
"No viable explanation was given. I was left in a small white town, given one month to vacate, and I had nothing to my name other than relics and personal collections," he remembered.
He admitted that the mistake he made was being tied by a sponsor who lacked knowledge about his background.
It was a hard lesson that individuals relocating on sponsorship should ask for support allowance from their sponsors right away or risk homelessness.
"Do not negotiate. They committed to it. Tell them to give you every single penny they owe you from the moment you step your feet on the ground then thank me later," he advised.
Joji believes that, as much as it is not easy to find a sponsor, one should not negotiate about their welfare.
Culture shock
Perhaps, his biggest culture shock was finding out that most sponsors live in small towns with no services for Black people.
That made him feel alienated and disconnected from fellow Blacks as well as his roots, identity, background, community, culture and traditions.
It was something that opened his eyes to the fact that members of the Black community tend to huddle together because they need each other for resources.
"Even a common Black person knows more resourceful places than ten white people. There is a reason Black People live together. We are community-oriented," he noted.
He reiterated that asylum-seekers should try to be as independent as possible from the onset if they want to fully integrate.
Black power
The good thing about being Black in a white country is that Black people are always willing to stop and help each other.
According to him, it is prudent to stop one in the streets and not only inform them about being new but also ask them for help.
"A Black person will stop and help you. They have resources information at their fingertips," added Joji.
Furthermore, a Black person will not see his kinsman suffer and do nothing because they do not feel free when one of their own is not free.
In his closing sentiments, he alluded to the fact that every Black person mourned the death of George Floyd even though they were not related and had never met him.
America deported asylum seekers
Early this year, YEN.com.gh reported that a charter plane full of deported African asylum seekers landed in Nairobi from Alexandria, Louisiana.
According to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on board the plane were 50 Somalis, a Kenyan, and two Ethiopian deportees.
The deportees who had been held at a facility owned by ICE reportedly boarded the plane in chains.
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