All Hanadi Albarazanji wants is to reunite her family.

The White Rock resident last saw two of her three children in person five years ago, just before she fled war-torn Syria with her youngest daughter, Juman, to start a new life in Canada.

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The family didn乌鸦传媒檛 have enough money for everyone to leave together, and as they were already adults, the older siblings 乌鸦传媒� son Kenan, now 27, and daughter Yaman, 24 乌鸦传媒� also didn乌鸦传媒檛 qualify as dependents under the same immigration application, she said.

But arriving here, Albarazanji, who was sponsored by her aunt, had hoped their steps to a fresh start would be similar to her own: a sponsor would be found and the process of relocating would unfold.

However, while her husband Emad was able to join her and their daughter in Canada, 乌鸦传媒渄ramatic乌鸦传媒� changes 乌鸦传媒� including the closure of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan borders to Syrians, and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) no longer automatically issuing refugee status to Syrians if they are able to leave 乌鸦传媒� not to mention pandemic-related delays 乌鸦传媒� have left Albarazanji wondering if she乌鸦传媒檒l ever see her eldest children face-to-face again.

乌鸦传媒淢y kids are essentially stuck in Syria and we have little to no chance of having our family be together in the foreseeable future,乌鸦传媒� Albarazanji said.

乌鸦传媒淲hen I see people talking (about) how much they are sad because the holidays and 乌鸦传媒� Christmas and they can乌鸦传媒檛 be together (because of the pandemic)乌鸦传媒� I feel like maybe next year you will meet them. But I can乌鸦传媒檛.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 very scared that I乌鸦传媒檒l die and I won乌鸦传媒檛 see them.乌鸦传媒�

Immigration consultant Amr Shehata said Albarazanji乌鸦传媒檚 situation highlights a crack in the 乌鸦传媒渙ne-year window application乌鸦传媒� process through which newly landed refugees can reunite with their immediate family members who are not yet in Canada: it only applies to spouses and dependent children.

On top of that, a refugee is defined as someone who has left their home country out of fear and availed themselves of the protection of the Canadian government, Shehata said.

乌鸦传媒淲hich means they cannot go back to their home country while that regime is still there,乌鸦传媒� he continued. 乌鸦传媒淎t the same time, these two members of the family乌鸦传媒� are in Syria. They fall within that crack of one-year window, into nowhere.乌鸦传媒�

Kenan and Yaman also cannot be privately sponsored as refugees because they are still in Syria, he said 乌鸦传媒� a problem that is difficult to rectify with borders of the tangent countries closed.

乌鸦传媒淭he only other place is Iraq,乌鸦传媒� Shehata said. 乌鸦传媒淪o it will be乌鸦传媒� into the fire if you went from Syria to Iraq. Doesn乌鸦传媒檛 really make any sense.乌鸦传媒�

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Albarazanji, who was raised in the United Arab Emirates, said she is becoming increasingly distressed by the situation. Since arriving in Canada, she has 乌鸦传媒渏oined all the opportunities I had乌鸦传媒� in an effort to become part of the community, even volunteering with the non-profit MOSAIC organization. It was all 乌鸦传媒渢o have a good life with my kids,乌鸦传媒� she said.

乌鸦传媒淣ow, everything I乌鸦传媒檝e done, I feel it is worthless. I can乌鸦传媒檛 get my kids here, and they are very good kids. I know they will be a good fit here in Canada.乌鸦传媒�

Albarazanji worries her humanitarian and compassion application could take 乌鸦传媒渁nother four or five years, if it works,乌鸦传媒� and Shehata confirmed there are no guarantees.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 totally discretionary, the officer may accept, may not accept,乌鸦传媒� he said.

He noted that Canada has created temporary policies in the past to assist immigrants in reuniting with their families, and pointed to government乌鸦传媒檚 Caring for Children Program 乌鸦传媒� which ended in June 2019 乌鸦传媒� as one example. It created a pathway to permanent residence for women who came from a visa-required country for home-care work, he said.

乌鸦传媒淎 lot of people in the profession knew the stress and the struggle that these ladies had,乌鸦传媒� Shehata said. 乌鸦传媒淭hey left their home, they left their kids and they came to Canada to take care of our kids, and after that, there was no clear hope for them.

乌鸦传媒淏ut now, there is kind of a policy, a kind of program that allowing even if you didn乌鸦传媒檛 disclose a family member, you can disclose them now and they can still be sponsored.

乌鸦传媒淭here are similar cases where the government was responsive and supportive, let乌鸦传媒檚 put it like that.

乌鸦传媒淢aybe Hanadi is one example, but I bet there are thousands of these families 乌鸦传媒� a mother that really cannot do anything for their kids.乌鸦传媒�

If the government did do something similar to the Caring for Children Program, 乌鸦传媒渢his would be a new community,乌鸦传媒� he said.

Stories like Albarazanji乌鸦传媒檚 are heartbreaking, he added.

乌鸦传媒淪he has been waiting for a long time. Most painful part, she doesn乌鸦传媒檛 know for how long she should be waiting, and even if she waited for that time, what would happen next.

乌鸦传媒淪he cannot see a light by the end of the tunnel, as simple as that.乌鸦传媒�