Canada Jails Refugees - Fear Mongering and the Far-Right
Canada Jails Refugees - Fear Mongering and the Far-Right
From Mayday Magazine
maydaymagazine.ca
This May, The MV Sun Sea departed from Sri Lanka carrying 492 men, women, and children, giving up their sovereign identities for a dangerous and uncertain journey. After being denied permission to dock in Thailand and Australia, the Tamil refugees approached British Columbia, hoping to find asylum.
Instead of being welcomed, the boat was met by the force of armed RCMP and naval officers and unfounded accusations of terrorism. Instead of finding refuge after a three month long journey risking death, the refugees are currently experiencing the dehumanizing treatment of incarceration.
Mainstream media and government officials have taken up what seems like a moral debate about what to do with the boatload of refugees. This discussion fuels fear and confusion, distracting people from asking the most important questions. Questions like, is there really any justification for prison as a humane response to encountering people fleeing for their lives?
This is not the first time that a ship carrying refugees into Canadian waters has been met with racist hostility and accusations of terror. Last October, the arrival of a ship carrying 76 Tamil refugees was debated with the same unfounded panic and media sensationalism. Canada’s Border Service ultimately admitted there was never any evidence the men had any sort of connection with groups deemed to be terrorists.
And yet, time after time, the arrival of a boat filled with refugees ignites hysteria. Such a reaction is, in part, a product of systemic racial violence inherent in the western world. It stems from the same logic of colonialism and white supremacy that initiated the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
Totally agree with the direction of this-- thank you for posting it.
In part at least a portion of this is attributable to the position the Federal Government has taken that those who are not residents have no Rights under Canadian law and the Constitution.
I would think that as soon as people come under the jurisdiction of Canada they have those rights.
Further the Government is alternately ignoring or seeking to end run international human rights and international law.
As well, this government uses every event as a wedge issue exaggerating at will anything in order to achieve a purpose. The number of people we are talking about are quite small from a public policy point of view even though their need and suffering is great.
Since Canada has so many warships available and the desire to use them in this type of case, the appropriate response would be to go to where a new ship is to embark for Canada and pick them up and bring them back to Canada more humanely and safely than these smaller vessels are able to. But that would be if we actually cared about international human dignity and the role we could play in improving the situation of the desperate.
We cannot continue with the way these unfortunate refugees are treated by the Canadian government. We, the people, should organize boats to go out to their ships before they get caught by the Canadian Navy's ships and then secretly bring these people to our shores. Then we could take them to our homes and let them live peaceful lives. It would not cost us too much to clothe, feed and shelter them for as long as they wish. I think we could find doctors amongst us who could provide free health care for them. This way heartless people could not complain about tax dollars being "wasted" on them. We could even take ships to these places like Darfur, Burma, China, Sri Lanka and others and bring them here so that they do not endanger their lives on smugglers' rusty boats. Those who are out there and would like to help the refugees and take care of them once they get here: Let's get organized!
Go for it....
And your concern is....well....obvious.
Say,......that wouldn't be sarcasm, would it??
Good luck with your project. May the seas be calm and the wind at your back etc... you'll be far to busy to be posting here anymore, I'm sure.
Not sure about the reply but my suggestion for Canada to use warships as relief vessels to bring people to Canada out of harm's way was serious. That is what we should do.
This should be a collective national effort not an individual one. Individuals ought to be helping once the people get here -- perhaps as sponsors, mentors etc.