A Quebecer who grew up in Ukraine wants to “save” her family, who fled the war and who could find themselves short of money to survive in Bulgaria while waiting for their visas to come to Canada.
“I can’t stop the war, but I can save my family,” says Mariya Arakelyan, 42, who lives in Granby. They want to come here, they want to be safe. »
In Quebec since 2015, the woman who grew up in Ukraine has lived the last few weeks in anguish. Taken by surprise by the war, the seven members of his family managed to flee the country last Wednesday.
“It was chaos when the war started, nobody knew what to do,” she says.
Since he has three minor children (17, 15 and 7 years old), his brother, a 46-year-old engineer, Aram Arakelyan, was allowed to leave the country without having to stay to fight.
Courtesy picture
His parents Samvel and Margarit Arakelian.
A long way
With his wife, children and parents aged 71 and 73, the group that was staying in Dnipro reached Moldova on Wednesday. The journey normally takes 10 hours, but it took them two days to get there by car, and another two days to cross the border.
“It was a nightmare with the kids in the car,” she says. Everyone experiences stress differently. The youngest asked what he was going to do without his toys. »
After passing through Romania, they found a home in Varna, Bulgaria.
“It was the nearest country where they could find an affordable apartment. Everywhere, everything is very, very expensive,” says Mme Arakelyan, who has a 17-year-old son.
By chance, it was a Montreal contact who found them temporary accommodation for three weeks. The apartment costs 80 dollars (US) per day, which is very expensive for them (2350 Ukrainian hryvnias).
“They left in a hurry, almost without money. They each have a small bag and important papers,” says the woman, who fears that they are running out of money.
Originally from Armenia, the parents of Mme Arakelyan fled their country for the second time in their lives.
The Canadian is in the process of finalizing regular visa applications for the whole family, pending the simplified program promised by the federal government. Despite the bureaucratic complexity that requires all sorts of documents that they don’t have, the woman refuses to complain.
Already, his son is in preparation mode to accommodate the family.
“He’s thinking about renovating the basement to accommodate everyone, we can’t wait for them to be here, safe,” she admits.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com