letter from the representative HERE IN CANADA When the new normal is unimaginable.


Imagine that one day you wake up as usual, make your children’s lunches, go to work, pay your bills, make dinner, talk to a friend… and then, suddenly, the next day, you don’t. In the middle of the night you and your family are running for your lives. Your overwhelming fear is that you and the people you care about will be hurt or killed. And it’s only when you find safety that you realize that you have almost nothing but the clothes on your back. Te home you lovingly maintained; the job you took pride in; the stores you shopped in;


the community hall where


your children played—all gone in an instant. Your normal, everyday life? Just a memory.


As the Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Canada (UNHCR), Canadians often ask me how they can help even a few of the world’s 51 million displaced people. I ask them to reflect on the fact that every one of those 51 million people had a normal


life that


ended, more often than not, in a sudden, brutal loss of almost everything they held dear. All of us can imagine—if not with a little bit of fear—and empathize with that scenario. For many of us, that empathy often leads to a search for understanding.


Tat’s what the first magazine from UNHCR Canada is all about. Our goal is to inform and inspire you to understand the lives of people who are refugees,


internally displaced persons,


stateless or asylum seekers—and the struggles they face. We would also like to share with you a little about how UNHCR works in Canada and around


the world with governments and other NGO and corporate partners.


I am proud to live and work in a country that has a long and cherished tradition of immigration, and specifically, acceptance of refugees and displaced persons. In 1986 the Canadian people were the first and so far the only people of a country to receive the prestigious UNHCR Nansen Award. Tis award is given to honour an exceptional person or organization that has shown outstanding dedication and service to the displacement cause. Tat was true of Canada then, when in 1979, we took in some 60,000 Indochinese over 18 months. I believe it is true today, as Canada continues to resettle refugees from around the world, and this year in particular from Syria and Iraq.


But resettlement is just one part of our mandate. A much larger part is UNHCR’s


job of leading and co-


ordinating international action to protect refugees in more than 125 countries, safe-guarding their well-being and right to seek asylum. Tat mandate also includes helping stateless people and millions of people displaced within their own countries.


When people are forced to flee their homes because of violence or persecution, they turn to UNHCR for help. With government


pledges,


corporate, agency and individual donor support from people like you, we provide much needed humanitarian aid, including food, shelter, water, medical attention, sanitation and security, while working to find lasting solutions to their plight.


I hope you enjoy this inaugural issue of the UNHCR Canada magazine and share it with friends and family. I also hope you will share your thoughts with them, and with us, on the stories you read here by emailing us at donorcare@ unhcr.ca with any feedback or questions you may have. «


Best regards,


FURIO DE ANGELIS UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN CANADA


© D. Wilson UNHCR / 03


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