World Refugee Day

Canada joined the United Nations and people around the world to celebrate World Refugee Day this week acknowledging the courage and resilience of displaced persons from around the world.
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism said; “Canada has a long history of helping those most in need and is proud to work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in this endeavor.”
Among the highlights of this year’s achievements was the active resettlement program for Iraqi refugees who have sought asylum in neighbouring countries. Canada is committed to resettling at least 12,000 Iraqi refugees by 2012.
Of the estimated 10.5 million UN-designated refugees in the world today, approximately 100,000 are resettled by participating resettlement countries each year. Canada annually resettles 10,000 to 12,000, or one out of every 10 refugees resettled globally, through its government-assisted and privately sponsored refugee programs.
As part of the package of reforms for Canada’s asylum system, known as the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, the Government of Canada proposes to increase the number of refugees resettled from overseas as well as the support we provide to help them settle in Canada. Only by fixing the broken in-Canada system can we effectively increase the generosity of our overseas system.
If the legislation receives Royal Assent, Canada would increase the resettlement target by 2,500. This increase would bring the total number of refugees resettled by Canada to as many as 14,500 a year. This increase will mean Canada would be resettling more refugees per capita than any other country in the world.
Since World War II, Canadians have provided refuge to over 1 million refugees with private sponsors accounting for the resettlement of over 200,000 people.
In helping refugees begin a new life, Canadians are helping to ensure we maintain our international obligations and, at the same time, build stronger communities and fulfill the promise of Canada – the most welcoming nation in the world.
Below are some journeys to Canada.

Fatima from Afghanistan

Fifteen years ago, Fatima Bahir was a young girl going to a school for refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan. Today, she is a Canadian citizen and Ottawa resident, ambitiously planning a career in the public service. When asked where she sees herself in five years, with a wide grin she replies “working as a director.” Currently employed as a Learning Consultant at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Bahir’s journey to Ottawa is far from ordinary.
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1977,  Bahir never dreamed that over a decade later her family would be forced to flee their home, a place where she had “great memories.” But by 1993, the fighting and violence had escalated to the point where it was no longer safe. Bahir’s family abandoned their home to pile into a crowded minivan and begin a perilous journey across the border. Their trip was marked by several checkpoints, with bribes demanded at each stop.
Her hard work caught the attention of coordinators with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), who recommended she apply to their Student Refugee Program. Once she was accepted into the program, she knew her “brighter future would happen.”

Florence from Vietnam

Florence was only a small child when her family fled Vietnam in 1979, but the memories of that sometimes harrowing journey are vivid. Crowded into a small boat, the family spent four days on the South China Sea.
“We were attacked by pirates three times,” says Florence. “I was too young to know exactly what was happening or to understand the danger, but I do remember the feeling that something very serious was happening, that something was not right.”
Plucked from the sea by Malaysian authorities, Florence, her sister, mother and father spent the next six months in a crowded refugee camp with thousands of others who’d taken the same chance on freedom.
Eventually, Florence and her family met with a Canadian immigration official.
Today, Florence, a graduate of Laval University, works in Ottawa with Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Florence hopes that some day she will be able to work for Canada in another country, perhaps even in Vietnam.
“It’s such a thriving, vibrant place,” she says. “I believe our two countries have a great deal to offer one another, and I would love to play a part in bringing us closer together. It would be like closing the circle for me.”

Paw from Burma

Paw’s father had been a public servant in Burma (also known as Myanmar). But after the military took power, he was forced to flee to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border in 1989 because he was pro-democracy and a member of the Karen, a persecuted ethnic minority. Paw, her mother and sisters were finally able to join their father in the camp five years later.
Paw completed high school in the refugee camp and attended a one-year, pre-college program sponsored by an NGO in Thailand, where she first learned English. In 2003, she was sponsored to come to Canada by the University of Toronto Students Administrative Council through World University Services Canada (WUSC).
Paw has been studying, working and volunteering in Toronto since her arrival in 2003. She is completing her Honours Bachelor of Arts. She currently works as an interpreter for Karen refugees who have recently arrived in Toronto.
Paw has recently been reunited with her family. Her family arrived in Canada on May 2, 2007, as government-sponsored refugees. Paw’s mother and father, twin sister, along with her brother and his wife, recently attended her citizenship ceremony.

William from Sudan

Although he was a “Lost Boy” when growing up in the Sudan, William has both found his way to a new home in Canada and is helping others to do the same.
When he was just nine years old, William fled from his home in South Sudan to avoid being killed or abducted by troops in the country’s civil war.
He was one of the approximately 20,000 “Lost Boys of Sudan,” young men forced to look after themselves without parents or guardians as they walked through the African wilderness. Many were shot by soldiers and others died from starvation, dehydration and disease.
William walked for months to reach refugee camps, first in Ethiopia and later, Kenya. He became a social worker in the camps and, after meeting a representative of the Canadian embassy, applied and was accepted to move to Canada as a refugee in 1998.
Three years after he arrived, William became a Canadian citizen and today, he is a maintenance worker at the Metropolis at Metrotown shopping centre in Burnaby, B.C.
Today he is working to establish a community centre for the African immigrants in Vancouver and is also helping to run a tutoring program for students from Sudanese families, many whose parents lack education in Canada.