In response to a report in the Ottawa Sun that Canada has granted a certain Brandon Huntley refugee status, I sent the newspaper editor a letter, which you will find below.
Dear Editor,
As someone who has visited Canada many times, and has family there, I have always held Canada in high regard – and certainly was glad that it was a country more aware of the rest of the world than your southern neighbour.
So it is with a mixture of sadness and anger that I read about Brandon Huntley being accorded “refugee status” in Canada based on what seems like only his word, and that of his lawyer’s wife. It is unfortunate that a larger picture was not taken into account, and that more people were not spoken to in order to get a clearer picture of the actual situation.
Yes, the crime situation is bad, but it is not targeted only at whites or only at blacks. But the crime in Washington DC or London is also bad.
Yes, many people have left the country, for whatever reason. Some of the choose to enjoy their new surroundings legally and speak highly of their previous home, yet others leave and then feel a continuous need to justify their reasons for leaving. This often happens when they realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, and takes the form of highlighting all the possible negative aspects of the country they left. I suspect that émigrés from other countries also fall into one of these categories.
What really saddens me about this is that South Africa has been negatively portrayed, one-sidedly, which could have negative consequences for tourism and investment.
I certainly don’t begrudge anyone the right or desire to live wherever in the world they want to. In fact, I think that the more we move around the better we will all understand each other. It is unfortunate when it is done in an ill-informed manner at cost to others.
His portrayal of the picture does not explain why so many people are moving to South Africa as well – for personal lifestyle choices, or investing in business. It would certainly not explain why we are on track to host the Soccer World Cup next year. It would not explain why so many people are returning to South Africa from north America and Europe after having lived there for a while.
Now I only need to wish Brandon well during the 11 months of thick snow that covers Canada each year, and that he is not attacked by any of the polar bears roaming the streets. But I won’t, because I have gathered information to know that there is not that much snow, and there are no street-roaming polar bears in the cities. It is a pity that the tribunal panel chair William Davis didn’t accord South Africa the same respect of checking out the facts.
here is a link to the original article
