Canadians are welcoming Syrians with open arms as they seek refuge and attempt to build a new life here in Canada. But was it always this way? Global News spoke to refugees who fled persecution in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Vietnam and Hungary.
Here’s why they came to Canada, and their experiences in their own words.
“We hardly found food. War was very difficult. We pass(ed) many difficulties and hard days there,” she said. “I am happy for my daughter, because she is going to live in safety and peace in a healthy environment.”
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“I lost my baby on the journey here. He was only six months old,” Tran said. “I wanted to go back to shore but people didn’t let me do that. So I (held) my baby, seeing him die. I tasted the pain. I know how it feels.”
“I was the first woman who went on the screen after the Taliban came and because of that they killed my husband. They killed him right as he was entering our home,” Muwshtael said. “They were threatening to kill me and my kids as well.”
“I just remember men in uniforms storming our house and demanding money, ‘give us all your money, your gold,'” Kuburas said. “One of them pointed a gun at me and said ‘if you don’t give me all this money I will kill your daughter,’ and then later on they murdered my grandfather and my youngest uncle.”
He recounts adversity he faced after arriving in Canada. “There were a couple of disappointments. A group of skinheads would come out and demonstrate against my people, but that was only a small percentage and I didn’t really take that seriously because I knew Canadians don’t think like that.”
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