London, Ont., resident Emran Abdulmahmoud says he's been waiting for almost a year for Immigration Refugees, Citizenship Canada to process the applications of his three brothers impacted by the war in Sudan.

More than 50 organizations across Canada have signed an open letter, calling on Ottawa to reduce what they say are "discriminatory barriers" in its humanitarian program meant to reunite Sudanese people fleeing the country's ongoing civil war, with their family members in Canada.