Standing up for human rights
Panel of two refugees and a sponsor highlight the challenges of being refugees to Canada
Basel Al Rashdan is the perfect choice for a panelist.
He’s full of confidence, has a strong vocabulary and is not afraid to speak his mind.
He also knows his subject – perhaps too well.
At the age of 12, Rashdan has already endured more than any of the adults around him in the room. A refugee, he fled Syria with his parents and siblings, arriving on P.E.I. on Dec. 28, 2015. He’s thrilled to be here, and he was eager to share his thoughts as part of a panel in Charlottetown honouring Refugee Rights Day on April 4.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, said Rashdan opening the panel with an excerpt from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“I come here today to ask, ‘what does it mean for human beings to act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood?’ ”
Rashdan believes human rights are about empathy and that it is important to put oneself in the shoes of people facing adversity,
“How would I feel if I was in their situation?” said Rashdan.
No matter race, religion or disability, people want someone to defend them, he said.
“If I want people to stand up for my human rights, there is something very, very important I must do. I must stand up, stand up for your human rights.”
These are more than just pretty words on paper. They carry the weight of the law, said Rashdan.
“Let us all act toward one another in a spirit of brother and sisterhood, and remember to stand up for someone’s rights today, tomorrow and forever.”
The other two panelists included Dorcas Habumugisha and Bonnie Stewart.
Habumugisha, 17, was born in a Tanzanian refugee camp. She fled the country with family during a civil war and arrived on P.E.I. in March 2015. She couldn’t read or write any English, but she understood some French, said Yvette Doucette, of the P.E.I. Association of Newcomers to Canada, who was the moderator of the panel.
Doucette asked Habumugisha what she feels Islanders don’t know about most refugees.
“Many refugees are just here for freedom and peace because their countries are in a dangerous situation.”
Nobody wants to be a refugee, she said, but because their countries are so dangerous, they have no choice.
“I wonder, if my country was peaceful, I would not be here,” said Habumugisha, who is attending Colonel Gray High School and is interested in becoming a nurse.
When asked by Doucette what the greatest challenge was about being a refugee, both Rashdan and Habumugisha agreed it is the language.
Stewart, who is a member of the Interfaith Refugee Sponsor Group, understands this challenge.
She has lived in other countries where she doesn’t speak the language.
Being able to only communicate from a basic level affects relationships and the capacity to speak for oneself.
“I think it’s impossible to underestimate how difficult and bewildering it is to move into another culture that speaks a language you don’t speak,” she said.
“To walk them through that first year where they begin to form language and form relationships and get a sense of how things operate here, it can be difficult to communicate . . . . It’s not just language communication, but cultural communication.”