Pascal Lisuba has been in Prince Albert for 25 days and is from Congo originally but spent years in Rwanda. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

World Refugee Day

Refugee numbers in PA to increase by 200 in next year

Jun 21, 2023 | 12:00 PM

As is stands, Prince Albert is home to about 400 refugees but that number is expected to increase by another 200 in a year.

Pascal Lisuba has been in Prince Albert since this May, having come to the city from Congo via Rwanda and paNOW spoke to him at the YWCA for World Refugee Day. He said the immigration process is not fast.

“I was coming to Rwanda, I stayed there 15 years in a refugee camp and when I was there I was getting a chance of coming here to Canada,” he said.

He has been in Canada for 25 days and went to the YWCA Settlement Services location to celebrate the day on June 20.

His situation while in Rwanda was not good and had no hope of improving.

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“For being a refugee, we are living in a small house and the food, it was not enough for the family, but here, we are OK,” Lisuba said.

He is in the process of learning English and then will attend college.

This year the YWCA spent more effort in promoting the event, hoping other Prince Albert residents would come too and greet the newcomers.

To get the full experience, visitors were checked in at the door and given a identifying piece of paper that they were required to carry at all times. Just like in a refugee camp where documentation is of prime importance.

A staff members at the YWCA’s Settlement Services, checked in visitors just as they would at a refugee camp. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

Displays around the room told the real-life stories of other refugees, including those fleeing from Ukraine at the start of the war with just a suitcase of possessions and another showing the very small amount of food allocated to each refugee in camps on the African continent.

This table shows the amount of food allocated to a person in a refugee camp. The bag in the front shows how much soap they get for washing themselves and their clothing or dishes for the entire two weeks. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

The Settlement Services staff say that because many of their employees are former refugees, they have 19 languages spoken amongst the staff, which is a huge help for people entering the community with no English skills.

They have an agreement with the federal government that includes funding to teach the newcomers the language skills they need to function, such as going to the doctor, buying groceries and navigating the community.

Part of the newcomer experience is sharing the many cultures that come but they all have a common denominator of rice as a staple ingredient.

The 200 people expected in Prince Albert before March 31, 2024 will mainly be family groups.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com