Letter: Refugees
By Contributor
Editor:
Thanks to all the generous Rosslanders who have helped to welcome WKFoR’s new Eritrean family! Their arrival is timely. Attached is a letter to our Immigration Minister that I hope will inspire others to speak out as well.
Dear Mr. Alexander,
Today I signed the petition circulating on change.org which calls on you and your government to help Syrian refugees. I am writing to let you know how important this issue is to me as a Canadian citizen. I hope you in turn will take it seriously and take immediate, definitive action.
Over the past 2 years I have been involved with resettling 2 families to my small home town (Rossland, BC, pop 3500). We work through the Blended Visa Office-referred (BVOR) system and are affiliated with the sponsorship group East Kootenay Friends of Burma. It has been a rewarding experience for all involved, and has shown us how easy it is to share our world of plenty with refugee families. (http://www.rosslandnews.com/news/323775501.html)
The crises facing Africa and the Middle East are not entirely of their own making. Westerners have exploited their natural resources for hundreds of years and continue to do so. We have used more than our share of the world’s supplies of water, minerals and fossil fuels. Our consumption-based lifestyles have disproportionately affected poorer nations. Climate change has made food and clean water production increasingly difficult for them, while distribution of these essentials is equally challenging. We cannot stand by and expect them to solve the problems alone. We cannot allow people to live with war and poverty, or to die trying to escape them.
Please make changes starting now to allow more refugees to share our country, our security and our wealth. Many Canadians citizens want to do this but we need official channels to open wide.
Sincerely,
M. Jill Peacock, MD, CCFP
West Kootenay Friends of Refugees
