加拿大还没有让一个家庭与试图逃离饱受冲突折磨的苏丹的亲属团聚，而移民团体要求联邦政府采取更多措施结束长达一年的内战。
去年4月在这个非洲东北部国家爆发的民兵交战迫使至少850万人流离失所，联合国称这是世界上最大的国内流离失所危机。
总部位于埃德蒙顿的苏丹裔加拿大人社区协会(sudan Canadian Communities Association)负责人伊马德·萨蒂(Imad Satti)说，到目前为止，加拿大几乎没有采取任何措施来阻止这种情况。
萨蒂说:“我们什么也没做，只是表达了关注，这解决不了任何问题。”“包括加拿大在内的国际委员会没有足够的力量来阻止这场战争。”
上个月，联合国救援倡导者Edem Wosornu告诉安理会，苏丹正处于“灾难性局面”之中，处于人为饥荒的边缘。
她说:“有报道说，有乱葬坑、轮奸、在人口密集地区发生的令人震惊的不分青红皂白的袭击，还有更多的恐怖事件。”“我们辜负了苏丹人民。”
加拿大去年春天对安全局势表示担忧，并空运了公民。肯尼亚外交部长乔利访问了邻国肯尼亚，支持邻国努力推动和平。
但从那以后，加拿大一直避免制裁军阀，也没有公开指责那些助长了战争的国家。萨蒂希望渥太华两者兼顾，甚至敦促联合国进行干预，以期恢复秩序。
加拿大全球事务部表示，渥太华一直在要求各方结束战争。
“加拿大官员继续在与该地区和国际各层面的合作伙伴的讨论中提出这场危机，”发言人玛丽琳·古弗瑞蒙特(Marilyne guevremont)写道。“我们正在与我们的合作伙伴一起探索所有选择，以确保追究侵犯人权者的责任。”
加拿大转而把重点放在人道主义援助上，去年拨出1.7亿多美元用于苏丹及其邻国接收难民。
渥太华说，其中一些资金进入了基层组织，这些组织填补了主要援助组织留下的真空，苏丹民兵组织限制这些组织帮助公民。援助的主要重点是应对性暴力和帮助妇女逃离冲突。
“加拿大支持苏丹人道主义基金，该基金直接向在当地工作的人道主义伙伴提供资金，以便他们能够及时有效地向最需要帮助的弱势群体提供拯救生命的援助，”古弗瑞蒙特写道。
移民部长米勒去年年底确实宣布了一个家庭团聚计划，旨在让逃离苏丹的人与加拿大的亲戚团聚，并提供经济支持。
然而，家庭们表示，该项目要求的文件在战区是不可能收集到的，并且要求赞助者有18100美元现金加上至少51128美元的年收入来赞助一个四口之家。
萨蒂所在的组织代表着加拿大各地的苏丹人团体。他说，有些人在帮助亲戚处理文书工作时，把现金闲置在银行账户里。他说，还有一些人寄钱来帮助亲戚维持生命，在这个过程中耗尽了他们的积蓄。
渥太华对该计划进行了调整，允许在人们的申请被接受后进行指纹等生物识别筛查，但萨蒂说，为了访问加拿大领事馆，前往苏丹的一个邻国仍然很昂贵，而且往往很危险。
The program started accepting applications on Feb. 27, and Ottawa said that as of March 25 it had received 680 applications involving roughly 1,500 people that meet the bar for processing.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not say how many applications it has received that haven't yet passed "completeness checks" and added that it hadn't approved any applications yet.
Miller said the program, which will accept up to 3,250 applications, was designed with Sudanese diaspora groups, and he's open to improvements. He also doesn't expect anyone to arrive in Canada any time soon.
"We are looking to welcome Sudanese people fleeing war at the end of this year or the beginning of next year," he said on March 27. "It's very important to talk about what has become a forgotten war for a lot of us."
New Democrats say the government is moving far too slowly in what Ottawa has already deemed a humanitarian effort to rescue people from an emergency.
"These people should be Canada's priority — especially in instances where there are minor children who have been separated from their families," MP Heather McPherson wrote in a letter to Liberal ministers last month.
McPherson also urged Ottawa to step up its diplomatic pressure and humanitarian response.
Ottawa's former ambassador to Sudan, Nicholas Coghlan, has argued for months that Canada should follow its U.S. and European peers in sanctioning the economic networks that Sudan's warlords rely on.
Canada hasn't appointed a senior diplomat to stay in the region and gather intelligence on how Ottawa could best use its humanitarian and diplomatic heft, Coghlan noted in a column published by the Canadian International Council.
"Unless this omission is rectified, we are in no position to consider playing even a second-fiddle role in bringing the fighting to an end," he wrote.
Canada hasn't issued a statement on the crisis since June 2023, Coghlan added. "Signs of Canadian interest — let alone commitment — are disappointingly few and far between."
Analysts are watching to see if Canada partakes in a summit in Paris next week aimed at bringing Sudan more foreign aid and a pathway to ending the conflict.
In a statement Monday, European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell called out the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Russia for "bringing in cash and weapons" and fuelling the fighting in Sudan.
Meanwhile, it's "very disappointing" Canada still can't get relatives out of Sudan, Satti said. He worries constantly for his siblings, whom he loses touch with for days when skirmishes escalate and telecommunications go down.
"We are very stressed and very worried," he said. "It's not being considered as an emergency."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2024.
