Islanders show solidarity with migrant caravans
Roughly 35 people gathered in Charlottetown Thursday to stand in solidarity with the migrant caravans.
“It was a busy night,’’ says coorganizer Eliza MacLauchlan, who was one of four speakers at the event held at Timothy’s Coffee House.
“A big thing about last night was really recognizing Canada’s role in all of this.’’
Canada, according to the supporters at the event, has played a large role in contributing to the conditions in the Central American countries from where thousands have been fleeing poverty, violence and government repression by recognizing the Honduran government as legitimate after the 2009 military coup and playing a huge economic role in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador through Canadian mining companies which have devastated local economies and environments.
“We are calling on the Canadian government to end the Safe Third Country Agreement and to instate the Canadian ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise as the Trudeau government promised to do a year ago,’’ said Hannah Gehrels, another organizer of the event.
The agreement, Gehrels notes, assumes the United States is a safe place for refugees and means that migrants who cross through the U.S. cannot make a refugee claim in Canada.
A short vigil was held during the solidarity event to honour the lives lost during the caravan.
Messages of solidarity were written to those trying to flee turmoil for a safe home.
“People are fleeing a humanitarian crisis and are being mistreated and criminalized including an eight-year-old boy killed on Christmas Day,’’ said Paola Soto Flores, who also helped organize the event.