Syrian Refuges and the Cost of Travel

It came as a shock to me last week when I read that refuges have traditionally had to pay their own airfare when coming to Canada. This rule has been temporarily waived since the election of the Liberal government in terms of Syrian refuges. There are however, no indications that the government sees something intrinsically wrong with refuges being placed in debt even before they arrive.

By the very definition of a refuge, one should assume that these individual are not wealthy people, that they have lost everything and have a legitimate fear that if they remain where they are, their very lives are at risk.  Because they arrive with almost nothing in terms of personal possessions, because their only access to housing, to food, to education and to jobs comes through either the largess of the state or private groups, they need time and space to establish themselves. In fact the Canadian government recognizes that each refugee needs to be supported for a year before they can start to be self-sufficient. But we, the Canadian people who with such great fanfare and much slapping of our own backs when they arrive, start to charge them interest on the "loans" for airfare as soon as they arrive!

According the CBC only two other countries charge refuges for airfare and only Canada charges interest on that loan. Really? I find inconceivable that anyone, anywhere in the world would think this is okay. I am embarrassed that I live in the only country in the entire world that places such a burden upon those who we say we want to help.

We want (I assume) these new Canadians to feel like they have a shot of making it, that there is some sort of level playing field, that they have some control over their destiny. We need them (and their children) to understand that because of our belief in fair play, that we will do nothing to sabotage their potential success.  I think we are a long way from proving that.

There is some research that suggest that the rise of gangs that are comprised mainly of kids whose parents are immigrants/refuges is in part due to the fact that those children and young adults see their parents (sometimes qualified for jobs they can't apply for) struggling and not getting ahead. Certainly in Europe, links are being made between individuals who feel separate from/disenfranchised from their society and the rise in home grown terrorism. While these links may be tenuous, we need to ensure that as a society we empower people to be in charge of their lives, not make them feel like they are already in debt before they buy their first piece of fruit or loaf of bread.

We need to help people get out of debt - not to ensure that they are in debt from their very first breath of Canadian air.

Come on Canada - we can do better than this.