The recent arrival of a family of Syrian refugees has created a heated debate.
While some have welcomed the family with open arms, others seem to have lost sight of what it means to be a refugee.
Since the story of the family’s arrival was posted on our Facebook page, many have voiced their distaste for the initiative.
Maybe a little education is in order.
A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or a natural disaster.
Since 2011, the ongoing civil war in Syria has killed or injured millions — recent reports say over 470,000 have been killed, while 1.9 million have been injured.
Average life expectancy in Syria has dropped from 70 to 55, while cities have been reduced to rubble.
So suffice to say that these people aren’t coming here because they want to take advantage of “government handouts,” like some have suggested.
They simply want lead a normal life like every other human being — you know, being able to walk down the street without fear of being shot.
We haven’t had the opportunity to interview the family, but we would suspect that had it not been for the war they never would have even considered coming to Canada.
See, if that was the case, they would be immigrants, not refugees. But we digress.
This family of six has moved into a modest home and will receive modest funds — really, what sort of extravagant lifestyle can they afford on $50,000?
After making what was likely the toughest decision they ever had to make, and then arriving in a foreign country to live on a shoestring budget, they are met with the accusations of being “freeloaders.”
We should be better than that.
Yes, the program costs money and yes there are many Albertans out of work. And without a doubt there are many other worthy causes right here in Westlock.
But as one Facebook poster said: “This anger and bitterness needs to stop. These people deserve a chance, the beautiful baby boys deserve to go to a safe school and be loved and accepted by their peers. Be angry at Justin Trudeau if you must, but not at this family. Just stop the hatred, that’s something they are all too familiar with.”
We couldn’t have said it better.
