Refugee Trap: Refugee Trap: A Tamil family moves into Toronto, Canada, at the height of the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2004 and faces

ISBN-13: 9781490450148 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 196 str.

MR Bharathi Mohan

Opis

In the early 2000s, Canada became among the top western destinations for desperate Sri Lankan Tamil civilians who fled death and destruction at the height of the civil war in their country. For many who came as refugees, the cost of freedom began to unravel within a few months of their arrival as they faced the harsh reality of their new environment. Without the support of elders and relatives, they found their family cohesion splitting apart. It was a different sort of conflict, one which led to wife abuse, crime involvement, alcohol addiction, drugs, gang warfare, pre-marital sex and a host of problems, all blamed on the ills of western society. The traditional values and behavior patterns of these refugees presented a huge barrier to their successful integration in society. Unable or unwilling to adjust to modern society's norms, these migrants from mainly the Jaffna district were left with misgivings in this vast multi-cultural, but western-oriented country. Essentially, this large group of migrants was caught in a refugee trap, facing isolation in freedom country and without a U-turn path to their beloved land. Against the background of actual events in Sri Lanka and Canada, this book provides an intriguing account of one such family's immigration experience after their move to Canada. It documents the almost daily crises that dogged the family of five over a one-year period and provides important messages and stark warnings to would-be migrants, particularly those with strong cultural tradition from Asian countries. The narrative starts with the Siva family moving into a townhouse in the suburbs of Toronto in the spring of 2004 when migration from the island nation was reaching a peak. Although this book focuses on one family's bitter migration experience, it provides powerful insights into the lives of ordinary Tamil migrants whose first love was not their adopted country. Readers are cautioned that although the characters in this story may resemble real persons, they are entirely fictional. Regarding the criminal behavior of some migrants depicted in the story, the author wishes to acknowledge that the Tamil community in Canada is by and large responsible and law abiding. On the positive side, the book outlines the determined efforts by the minority Tamil people to keep their culture, tradition and history alive in Canada. Readers are transported to some of their colorful festivals and cultural events that form part of the community's rich contribution to this multi-cultural nation. With the change in the political landscape in Sri Lanka after the defeat of the Tamil rebels in 2009, immigration from that country continued relentlessly with the migrants still bringing with them the same outlook as those before them.

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