Canada and Refugees

 Last Tuesday a Syrian family arrived in Trenton after a long, bewildering, dangerous wait of six years since they were first identified for sponsorship. This is an extraordinary story of determination on the part of the sponsorship group as well, an experience of immigration "snakes and ladders" which was discouraging and costly at time. I am so impressed by this group who are people of goodwill and compassion, including a number of them from different faith communities. 

Today is the 11th anniversary of the beginning of the civil war in Syria which resulted in between 4.5 and 5 million refugees from that country and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Canada and Canadians eventually responded with impressive hospitality and it was a privilege to be part of the sponsorship group from the Bridge St congregation, in colloboration with many others.

The chilling reality is that Russia was complicit in those deaths and displacement as an ally of Syria, and perhaps Putin felt that the playbook for those war crimes could be applied to the invasion of Ukraine. We've seen in these past few weeks that the resolve of the Ukrainian people is deep, and they are not having to deal with a despot in leadership along with the military might of a foreign power.

I support providing sanctuary for displaced Ukrainians in Canada and we know that the large Ukrainian community in this country will do everything possible to welcome these refugees. I hope that the federal government will fast-track entry requirements, although we know that they must do due diligence. 

I do wonder whether we are still more inclined toward bringing white, Europeans immigrants to this country, a bias which we don't want to talk about. Certainly Canada is more inclined to welcome people from a broader range of countries than the United States, but given the debacle of the racist, xenophobic Trump years that isn't saying much. And why were Western nations less willing to impose sanctions on Russia for the terrible toll inflicted on civilians in Syria? 

We can pray for an end to the conflict in Ukraine so that the exodus is no longer necessary. God be with refugees and migrants and asylum seekers around the planet. God, Allah, Creator, create in all of us a desire for peace. 

                                                                        Ukrainian refugees