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| Wed, January 26, 2005
Tragedy reunites family FEDS FAST-TRACK TSUNAMI CASES By TOM GODFREY, TORONTO SUN TWO YOUNG girls left homeless by the deadly tsunami in Sri Lanka are among about 50 children and other family members who have arrived in Canada after their cases were fast-tracked. Tears of joy were on the faces of Dushishi and Prashalini Baheswaran as they were reunited with their Scarborough mom, Shantha, last weekend, Tamil community members said. "The girls are sick with the cold and flu," said Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who helped reunite the family. "This is something I will remember for the rest of my life." The girls, 16 and 13-years-old, were left stranded after a Jaffna orphanage where they were living was destroyed by the tsunami. They were living at the home until Shantha, 40, could resettle in Canada and sponsor them to be with her. She arrived four years ago as a refugee. "A case like this makes it all worthwhile at the end of the day," Karygiannis said from New Brunswick yesterday. "Many immigration officers abroad have worked hard to get these people to Canada." He said the girls were among 50 children and family members, who began arriving in Canada last Sunday. "The community is completely ecstatic," said Scarborough businessman Anthoney Sellarajah. "People are glad to see loved ones who have survived." Sellarajah has given Shantha a second job to earn more money to support her daughters. He also plans to pay college or university tuition for the teens. "These girls have had a very hard life so far," he said yesterday. "We don't want them to suffer any more." Sellarajah has started a drive to raise cash to purchase artificial limbs for survivors of the tsunami. Some 2,500 of the 5,000 survivors being allowed to join sponsors in Canada will resettle in Toronto, city officials said. |