Why Do Some Refugees Matter More to Canadians?

“Almost everyone in the association’s office is counting on Canada to accept them. The Canada they’ve chosen to believe in—perhaps out of desperation or because reports in Arabic-language media tended to praise Canada for the way it welcomed Syrian refugees—is a utopia where tolerance and respect for Islam prevail and Canadians welcome refugees at the airport with banners, warm clothing, and fully furnished apartments. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—“that handsome, young, humanitarian man,” as one elderly Yemeni man describes him—has acquired a near-biblical status as the liberator of the oppressed and destitute.”

Kamal Al-Solaylee – The Walrus – March 2018

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