TORONTO -- A group of protesters set up camp outside of the Prime Minister鈥檚 constituency office in Montreal on Saturday, calling on the government to do more to help asylum seekers currently risking their lives working in long-term care homes stricken by COVID-19.
Protesters are speaking up on behalf of migrants who don鈥檛 want to be identified, fearing deportation. According to advocates, hundreds of asylum seekers have been doing essential work in Quebec鈥檚 senior homes, which have been hit hard by COVID-19.
鈥淭hey sacrifice themselves,鈥 Wilner Cayo, president of Stand Up For Dignity, told 麻豆影视. 鈥淭hey pay a great price, at least recognize them [by] granting them their permanent residence.鈥
There are at least 800 asylum seekers currently working as orderlies in long-term care facilities in Quebec, according to Frantz Andre of Action Committee for People Without Status, the group behind the protest.
Marcelin Francois was one of these workers.
Although his face was on some of the posters waved by protesters, he couldn鈥檛 be at Saturday鈥檚 demonstration.
The 40-year-old contracted COVID-19 last month and died in his wife's arms.
Like thousands of others, he crossed into Quebec on Roxham Road, the country's busiest illegal crossing, which was shut down in March.
The father of three worked two jobs, one as an orderly.
鈥淭hese people are saving our seniors, they're saving our parents, our grandparents, and they're risking their [lives] to take care of us,鈥 Montreal lawyer May Chiu told 麻豆影视.
Long-term care homes account for more than 80 per cent of the deaths in Canada, and the danger of working in one has led to staff shortages in many regions.
Migrants filling these essential positions are helping at-risk Canadians during a global crisis with no guarantee that they鈥檒l be allowed to stay in Canada, Andre pointed out.
鈥淎 lot of them are from Haiti and other countries and they don鈥檛 have the choice but to be working because they don鈥檛 have the financial potential to take care of themselves,鈥 he 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take care of them鈥 who鈥檚 going to take care of us?鈥
A Haitian man who attended the protest told 麻豆影视 that his wife feeds and bathes seniors in a long-term care facility where the virus has claimed 18 lives.
鈥淪he is working directly with people with COVID-19, and deserves to have her residency application fast tracked,鈥 he said.
But although Quebec's premier has called all health workers 鈥済uardian angels,鈥 the essential work these migrants are putting in has not changed his stance on the rules.
鈥淲e cannot open the door to say 鈥榠f you come illegally, if you find a job that's okay, I will accept you as an immigrant鈥,鈥 Quebec Premier Francois Legault said in a press conference. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the way it works.鈥
Marjorie Villefranche, the director of the Maison d鈥橦aiti community centre in the Montreal neighbourhood Saint-Michel, believes migrant workers filling essential roles during the pandemic should be upgraded to immigrant status, instead of having to rely on the uncertain refugee claims process.
Saint-Michel is one of the neighbourhoods suffering the brunt of COVID-19 in Montreal -- and many of its residents are migrants who work in health care.
Out of the 27,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in Montreal over the last three years, 5,000 were resettled singlehandedly by The Maison d鈥橦aiti.
鈥淲hen COVID is over, you鈥檙e having to tell them, go back to your countries?鈥 Villefranche told 鈥淚t would be a shame.鈥
Ottawa says all asylum seekers will receive a full and fair hearing, but when these hearings could be held is unclear. All in-person hearings have been suspended due to COVID-19 -- leaving thousands unsure if they will have a future in Canada after the pandemic.
