Refugees #2

In the past ten or so days, there has been an overwhelming, almost sickly sweet response to the picture of the three year old Syrian refugee who died in the attempt to achieve the safety of another country. All of a sudden the entire Northern Hemisphere is wallowing in someone else's grief, holding vigils, demanding some kind of action from their governments - wondering what the governments can do to solve this problem. The public response has been that of a group of people who just found out last week that hundreds of thousands of people are risking their lives to escape the chaos and oppression of their homeland. Where have all of those concerned world citizens been for the last two years? Under what rock have they been hiding?  I would not have thought that there was enough sand for so many people to burying their heads into.

The number and the desperation of the world's refugees is not a new problem. On May 17th of this year I wrote a blog about Canada's woefully poor response to the number of refugees. Previously to that on February 8th, 2014, I mentioned the number of people in Syria needing assistance. I discussed the issue at least two years ago in all my classes that I could figure out how to squeeze the topic into. I find myself almost offended that people are now getting on a band wagon that (1) should never have needed to exist and (2) should have left the station (to mix metaphors) a long time ago. For Canadian politicians to now say "oh - the government needs to do something", is the worse sort of political manipulation for votes.  We should all be embarrassed.

Where were all of those people two or three years ago. Why weren't people demanding their government accept more refugees into our country? Why did we accept the government's stance that it was doing all that it could, when in fact it was doing less than any previous government? How it all good conscience could we have accepted the sometimes blatant racist attitude that suggested that all people from the Middle East were potentially (and sometimes likely) terrorist? Why have so many of us, done so little to help? And why are we not doing something now?

It is a two prong problem. One is that the government expects the majority of refugees to be privately sponsored. That is, that collectively churches, and community groups need to raise sufficient funds to support individuals or families until they are on their feet. Secondly, the government retains the sole right to decide who can come to Canada and who can't. While it would appear from some reports that there are groups out there who are prepared and capable of supporting families, the Canadian Government has been woefully inadequate in screening applicants. Screening is a complex business when civil service staffing has been significantly reduced and when refugees who are escaping with only the clothes on their backs - frequently do not have clear proof as to who they say they are.

However the solution to the problem is not just to open our doors and accept everyone. The refugees from Syria and all of those other countries are needed by their countries to assist in the re-building process. The last thing those countries need is to have their most courageous and ambitious citizens to leave. While in the short term the only solution maybe to accept more refugees, we need to as a country and as a global community stop telling people how to run their lives and to start to provide real and meaningful assistance. For example - why is Canada's emergency response team (DART) not in the camps providing the technology so that all can have clean water? Yes it would be expensive - but not as expensive as sending six jets to bomb buildings and the people in them. Why are we not sending over the resources and skills so that there can be more teacher training? Why are we, instead of bombing, not helping people develop the resources to resist the voices of terrorists. Those voices are only attractive because there appear to be no alternatives. Surely the greatest gift we can give is the belief that there are alternatives and the tools to make it happen.

And finally, and perhaps most radically - why don't we cancel Christmas this year? According the Globe and Mail, the average Canadian anticipated spending $1800 on Christmas in 2013. Other sources such as the Star suggested that it would only be half of that in 2014. Regardless of which is the right number - it is a lot of money. Let's not buy presents - especially for anyone over the age of 16-18. Let's not plan Christmas vacation to a warmer climate or to go skiing. Let's plan on giving that money to organizations who have the capacity to support refugees if they come to Canada; let's give money to people who live and work in the Middle East, people who know the needs of the people who live there. Let's stop listening to those people whose primary interest is in making money, enhancing their status or maintaining their jobs.