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economist suntribune social services thursday sept 26 2002 newcomers strive to fit in refugees flee danger to safe york region ithe uman factor a series exploring the struggle to provide services for a growing population staff writer lisa queen looks at hfsrk immigration in york region as a municipal councillor in a city north of bogota santiago moros always knew politics in his native colombia was dangerous then came the day it changed the refugees life in january 1998 mr moros was kidnapped at gunpoint by guerril las who wanted political informa tion after driving their victim around the city with a gun aimed at his head for four hours the guerrillas finally agreed to release the married father of then-four- yearold santiago jr and one- monthold sandra valeria after he agreed to provide the information they were seeking in this moment my life changed said mr moros now a refugee claimant living in richmond hill the family fled to bogota for weeks and even spent six months visiting family in richmond hill in an attempt to throw their pur suers off their trail but the guerrillas werent easily deterred they repeatedly called mr moros uncle threatening to injure or kill family members unless he revealed where his nephew had fled while mr moros wife sandra knew her husband was in danger he hadnt told her he had been kidnapped and released however mr moros finally had to confess just how treacherous the situation was when the guer rillas killed his uncle the family hired a bodyguard and spent months moving from the home of one relative or friend to another managing to stay one step in front of the guerrillas for about eight months but the hunters finally tracked down their prey the moros finally decided they had no future in their country a land they loved that was filled with family and friends the guerrillas found us they called and said they would kill us in this moment i went to the police and asked for their help i didnt have their help and in this moment we think we must leave colombia mr moros said in his broken english often turn ing to eightyearold santiago jr to help with translation we think about what is the best place for my family for my children for my wife i know canada from four years ago from our visit we think its the best place for our children on feb 1 1 the family which has an american visa left colombia and landed in miami they then flew on to detroit and crossed the canadian border into windsor feb 15 claiming refugee status we think canada is the best option for us and we think we will be safer and we have a future here that in colombia we didnt have said mr moros who only spoke a few words of english when he arrived for the first month the family lived with mrs moros brother sleeping on the floor of a small apartment in richmond hill that already housed six people the moros now have their own apartment however although they are thrilled to be living in canada with their children attending school with their cousins they admit they face many hurdles adjusting to life here while they have learned a con siderable amount of english since arriving seven months ago lan guage barriers are monumental sec this page 8 staff photosteve somerville the moros family fled guerrilla warfare in columbia eventually arriving in richmond hill as refugees sandra left santiago jr santiago sr and sandra valeria have come to canada to stay immigration rules to apply retroactively beginning next march citizenship and immigration canada is expected to implement controversial new rules for immi grants looking to settle in canada newcomers applying for citizen ship and immigration lawyers are particularly upset the rules will be applied retroactively the government has said some prospective immigrants applica tions will be based on the new crite ria even though they began pro cessing applications for citizenship under the old system since the rules were disclosed in june immigration lawyers have filed hundreds of applications ask ing the federal court to declare the retroactive rule changes unreason able and unfair the problem stems from the fact senior ministry administrators told a house of commons committee earlier this year threequarters of the people applying under the old system would have their applica tions dealt with by the end of the year the committee decided to intro duce the new rules next march believing current applicants would have been processed by then however a backlog means 150000 applicants may see the cri teria their citizenship is judged on change in midstream highlights of the new direction in immigration policy include immigration minister denis coderre has announced canada will have to increase immigration levels beyond 300000 newcomers a year to account for canadas aging population mr coderre aims to attract more skilled workers to canada he wants to create a new con tract with immigrants who offer much needed skills in exchange for accepting three to fiveyear job offers the immigrant would have to agree to settle in areas outside toronto vancouver and montreal which have traditionally been areas where new arrivals settle those who fulfill the contract would receive citizenship at the end of the term mr coderre said canada needs more than a million skilled workers over the next five years to meet this demand applicants will earn more points toward their citizenship if a province backs their application or if their employment industry spon sors them the point system will be based on a score of 100 with immigrants having to secure a score of at least 75 to pass points will be based on education language skills and work experience the new rules empha size education and a job offer in canada rather than calling for peo ple to fill specific jobs for more information see citizenship and immigration canadas website at wwwcicgcca i lost 348 lbs of body fat and feel great how to loseveig keep tina beninatocalleri age 46 occupation childcarb specialist losing weight 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