Canada’s commitment to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees should make us all proud.
Will it be a completely smooth undertaking? Probably not. Change seldom is. But not only is it the right thing to do, it proves that we do learn from history’s lessons.
Here on the West Coast we have not always acted with compassion where refugees are concerned. In 1914, the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, British India. Of them, 24 were admitted to Canada, but the other 352 other passengers were not allowed to land in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India. The passengers consisted of 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus, all British subjects. The reason for not allowing them onto Canadian soil? Exclusion laws of the time were designed to keep out immigrants of Asian origin. And then, of course, there was the Chinese head tax – another stain on our history.
It took more than 120 years for Canada to apologize for those actions and offer redress to the descendants of Chinese immigrants.
On the eastern coast of Canada in 1939, 907 Jewish refugees aboard the German transatlantic liner St. Louis were escaping Nazi Germany. They sought refuge in Canada. Canada refused to take them in and the ship sailed back to Europe, where 254 would later die in concentration camps.
After the Second World War, Canada offered refugee status to Hungarians and Czechs as their liberties were under attack. And, then, of course, Canada offered a home to Vietnam War draft dodgers, Russian Mennonites, Vietnamese, Tibetans and Ugandans seeking refuge.
Our country’s communities are richer for the mix of life experiences, cultures, religions and ethnic diversity that refugees offer. The Syrians are no different from all of those other groups and many more that have come to Canada hoping for a better, safer life for themselves and their families.
Whether your ancestors were fortunate enough to have money socked away to buy first-class boat or airplane tickets and be greeted with a good job when they landed in Canada, or whether they came with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a dream, unless we are First Nations individuals, we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants.
There is not one among us who has not benefited by someone else’s kindness or this country’s policies of compassion and justice. Why would we not wish that for others and make it so if we can?
