The Ethiopian Association in the Greater Toronto Area was not set up to provide shelter support, but the head of the organization said that when dozens of asylum seekers began showing up at its door seeking help, it had to adjust.
Meserat Demeke said that between late May and mid-June, at least 200 Ethiopian migrants approached the organization's office in Toronto's east end, saying they needed help accessing food and somewhere to sleep.
"Then more people are coming and coming … We were sitting here until 12 o’clock at night trying to find somewhere to put them. That was a very tiring process," Demeke said. The city has seen asylum seekers sleeping on the sidewalks in recent weeks, unable to get a space in the shelter system. This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was "unacceptable" that, in Canada, "vulnerable asylum-claimants" have to sleep on the streets, but stressed the solution required co-ordination with all levels of government.
The Ethiopian association has rented a long-term Airbnb for just under $8,000 a month and rented another residential unit in Oshawa, Ont., to house several dozen recent asylum seekers, Demeke said. Outside the Ethiopian community, other institutions have warned that their efforts to help asylum seekers have strained scarce resources.
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