Tag Archives: Refugees
More Than Culture Shock!
Today’s predicted high temperature in Damascus, according to the BBC is 18 degrees Celsius. Today’s predicted high in Ottawa is -22 degrees Celsius. With the wind chill it will feel like -36. We have hundreds of newcomers in Ottawa, refugees escaping the fighting in Syria. Everything here is new to them, the language, the food, […]
Refugee Resettlement
It’s the big question that no-one has the courage to ask. What happens in the second year? Canada is becoming home to 25,000 Syrian refugees before the end of February, people leaving behind civil war and ISIS terror for hope in a new land. To say life here will be a difficult adjustment is probably […]
Refugees and Migrants III – What’s The Difference?
Sometimes I get sidetracked. I wrote this post a couple of months ago as part of a series, and then never got around to posting it. Given that the Middle East refugee crisis is likely to continue to dominate the headlines in 2016, perhaps it is time to look at the subject again. I am […]
The Celebration
I didn’t take pictures. I didn’t go anywhere near the window. I know what goes up must come down. I didn’t want to get in the way of that process, even though it seemed unlikely that any of the bullets were aimed in my direction. Earlier in the day I had visited a refugee camp […]
Thoughts On The Refugee Crisis
As broken election promises go, this is probably a good one. Canada’s new government has realized that it was unrealistic to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees before the end of the year. The target remains the same, but now it will take a couple of extra months. It is still an ambitious goal. The United States, […]
Refugees – Cold Hard Facts
He speaks with the authority of someone who has been there. I didn’t think to ask if I could quote him, so I won’t give his name. He’s a relief worker in the middle east. We were having dinner, and the discussion turned to the refugee crisis in Iraq and Syria, not a […]
Refugees and Migrants II – The Logistics
I said yesterday that someone needs to talk about the logistics involved in Canada opening its doors to an increased number of refugees fleeing the war in Syria. It is not enough just to be moved by the pictures, there are practical considerations. Canada took in 40,000 Vietnamese refugees in 1979-1980, a number made possible […]
Refugees and Migrants I – Election Fodder
It suddenly became the biggest issue of the Canadian federal election, sparked by a photograph of a dead Syrian boy whose family had supposedly desired to emigrate Canada. He (and other family members) had drowned trying to get from Turkey to Greece. According to the news media, the family had applied to for refugee status […]
Refugees III – We Are One
Theoretically I am back home, though it is tough to say for sure since I am posting this before I leave. With the effects of jet lag expected and no time to write while I was gone, I thought i should have something ready to go, so I held off on posting this song before […]
Refugees II – Dadaab
It was one paragraph on the back page of my newspaper, out of proportion to the human suffering about to take place. I had to look on the internet to find out more. The Kenyan government had ordered the United Nations to close the Dadaab refugee camp, home to almost 400,000 Somalian exiles. You may […]
random thoughts from lorne 
Recent Comments