Sunday, October 11 at 2:00pm

YWCA 733 Beatty Street (near Stadium Skytrain)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1501359490156546/

As part of 10 Days for Refugees Welcome (RefugeesWelcome.ca), No One Is Illegal-Vancouver – unceded Coast Salish Territories invites you to a panel discussion on what it means to be a refugee in Canada.

We assert Refugees Welcome! Freedom to move, stay and return.

SPEAKERS:

Jean de Dieu Hakizimana is a refugee, immigrant and Canadian citizen. He is a human rights activist and victim of the genocide in Rwanda. Jean works as a professional interpreter and translator and a community organizer. He is also the founder of Neighbourhood Care International, a non-profit agency in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that provides social service and advocacy support primarily to immigrants and refugees from Africa.

Danny Ramadan is the Volunteer Coordinator at QMUNITY – BC’s Queer Resource Centre. He is passionate about social justice and LGBTQ refugees’ rights; he cherishes his lived experience as a former gay refugee from Syria, where he fled from in 2011. Danny is an experienced journalist with bylines appearing in the Washington Post, The Guardian and Foreign Policy. He is also an author, with two collections of short stories published in Arabic. He is planning to publish his first novel in English soon.

Nissy Koye, a Kurdish refugee and activist, has strived to create awareness towards fundamental Kurdish issues. She has organized many awareness campaigns and fundraiser initiatives to aid the millions of displaced people of Kurdistan.

Toddler Alan Kurdi’s tragic death by drowning on September 2nd is a clarion call for urgent action on the global refugee crisis — the largest since World War II.

Yet the Canadian government only assisted 5,790 refugees from all parts of the world in 2013. Instead, the federal government deported 117,531 people between 2006 and 2014, including to countries with official moratoriums on deportation. The majority of those deported are refugee claimants. In fact, the number of refugee claims in Canada decreased by 50 percent and the number of accepted refugees dropped by 30 percent between 2006 and 2012.

This crisis is not inevitable. It is time for Canadian immigration and refugee system to be completely transformed. Across Canada people have come together to demand that the government provide an appropriate response to this crisis and to call for an end to the wars and environmental and economic collapse that forces people to become refugees and migrants.

We need to hear from those refugees directly impacted by the policies of our government. As part of a National Week of Action for Refugees Welcome (RefugeesWelcome.ca), No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories invites you to a panel discussion on what it means to be a refugee in Canada.

ACCESSIBILITY:

We will have snacks

Childcare will be provided on-site

ASL is in the process of being confirmed, we will update as soon as we know.

The YWCA Hotel is wheelchair accessible. The building has about 10 stairs to the front entrance and a side ramp to the front entrance. the room is on the ground level with double doors. there are two wheelchair accessible bathrooms. For a look at the room and what seating looks like
visit: http://www.ywcahotel.com/content/MEETING_ROOMS/329

This is a scent-reduced event.

A FAQ on MCS and being scent-free http://www.peggymunson.com/mcs/fragrancefree.html

On making your event scent-free or scent-reduced: http://dualpowerproductions.com/2011/03/26/organizing-a-fragrance-free-event/

On products you can use to reduce your use of scents: http://eastbaymeditation.org/accessibility/scentfree.html

If you have any particular accessibility needs or questions please contact payet.scudellari@gmail.com