Celebrating World Refugee Day
Welcoming a new home with ‘O Canada’ in 11 different languages
WORLD REFUGEE DAY was celebrated in Hamilton with a joyous gathering at the Central Library.
The celebration, attended by about 40 refugees, kicked off on Wednesday, with a video of the singing of “O Canada” in 11 different languages.
Hamilton normally welcomes 300 government-assisted refugees each year, says Andrea Buttars, resource development manager for Wesley Urban Ministries.
The city saw an influx of Syrian refugees between December 2015 and December 2016, when 1,338 government-assisted refugees from Syria were welcomed.
With other refugees coming from other countries, the total that year was 1,664.
In 2016 to 2017, the city welcomed 595 government-assisted refugees.
In the past year, Buttars said the city is back to its normal 300 refugees per year, similar to 2015 before the influx. The largest number of refugees are coming to Hamilton from war-torn Syria. Other locations refugees are fleeing include Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Palestine.
Buttars said her agency is in need of volunteers to help with the resettlement programs and events. For more information, go to wesley.ca/volunteers.
Those attending World Refugee Day celebrations at the library expressed how grateful they were to be welcomed to Canada.
Nationally, the Canadian Council for Refugees marked the day with a news release saying “Many Canadians are alive today because they or their parents were offered refuge; they contribute in countless ways to make our communities stronger.”
The council urged the federal government to withdraw from the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. because “in light of continuing disturbing developments in the United States violating the rights of refugees, the U.S. cannot be considered a safe country for refugees.”
The agreement denies refugee claimants from the U.S. and vice-versa — with some exceptions — because each country considers the other safe for refugees.
The federal and Ontario governments celebrated the day by announcing $7 million for a three-year pilot project to connect 1,300 newcomers, many of them refugees, with jobs in the hotel industry.