LGBTQ2 refugee activist spreads message of tolerance and equality
By Biko Beauttah, as told to Fiona Irvine-Goulet Biko Beauttah arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in 2006 as an asylum seeker. Beauttah is transgender, and in her native Kenya, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning...
The sweetest welcome: Syrian refugees bring taste of home to Canada
By Fiona Irvine-Goulet Imagine you’ve just arrived in a foreign country with almost nothing to your name. You know little about this cold land, but at least you speak the language, though it’s not your own. You’re educated and ambitious but have no family or friends...
UN High Commissioner for Refugees praises Canada for “extraordinary generosity”
By Lauren La Rose Among the many refugees Filippo Grandi encountered during his mission to Canada, a hospital worker in Montreal had a particularly profound impact on the head of the UN Refugee Agency. During the first leg of a four-day visit to Canada, Grandi met...
Into the field: A Canadian newcomer to UNHCR reflects on her first international mission
By Lauren La Rose First came the scream. Then the giggles followed. Sadly, I don’t speak Arabic, but the language of pure joy needs no translation. It was etched all over the face of five-year-old Rajaa who stood alongside her two friends, huddled together, doubled...
A Canadian UNHCR staffer responds to the Rohingya crisis
By Louise Aubin, as told to Fiona Irvine-Goulet Louise Aubin is the Deputy Director for International Protection at UNHCR’s headquarters in Geneva. The Quebec native is a lawyer who has been with UNHCR for over 20 years, beginning in 1995 as a legal officer for...
The Unwanted: A portrait of the Rohingya refugee crisis
By Fiona Irvine-Goulet Since August 25, 2017, more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar. Most are women and children; many have been beaten, tortured, raped, or have seen their homes and villages burned to the ground. Their loved ones have been...
Winter cash assistance brings life-saving gift of warmth to Syrian family
By Lauren La Rose ZARQA, JORDAN — For Abu and Um Waleed, the gift of winter cash assistance has brought warmth into their home—in more ways than one. “Immense happiness. It’s an unbelievable feeling. It really helped us a lot. We couldn’t sleep from the...
Winter cash assistance offers Syrian refugees comfort from the cold
By Lauren La Rose ZAATARI CAMP, JORDAN—The sight of corpses all around was simply unbearable for Zeenab. “My house was destroyed, the whole country was destroyed and we really didn’t have a safe place to stay at,” said Zeenab, originally from the small town of...