Young refugees offered pop-up classes while awaiting homes | Toronto Star

2016/02/10 Leave a comment

Good initiative:

A string of pop-up classrooms arranged to give young refugees a taste of school while they wait for new homes delighted Syrian families Monday at the west-end Toronto Plaza Hotel.

“A-B-C! — happy!” said a beaming 12-year-old Dalaa al Sarji, who, like most Syrian refugee children arriving in Canada, hadn’t been in a classroom in more than two years.

She and her six siblings — from 3-year-old Hussein to 14-year-old twin brothers — were among some 75 children living temporarily at the Plaza who hopped on school buses Monday in an unusual pilot project to give these uprooted children a feel for the routine of school in satellite classrooms, while they wait to find out where their new homes, and permanent schools, will be.

Hussein al Sarji, 3, is the baby of the family.

LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Hussein al Sarji, 3, is the baby of the family.

“We did reading — and the teacher was so pretty,” reported brother Said through an interpreter. Noted 14-year-old Ahmad: “I like school in Canada so much; everyone makes us welcome.”

Concerned that housing delays were leaving refugee children with no way to start integrating into Canada — the average hotel stay has been about four weeks — Toronto’s public and Catholic school boards scrambled together last week to find empty classrooms and hire supply teachers and Arabic interpreters to run two-hour morning classes for children while they’re living at the hotel. The costs, including buses, will be covered by the province’s newcomer program.

Walaa al Sarji, 6, can’t wait to play football and hockey in school.

“It’s the right thing to do; you can’t promise people a new life and not prepare them for getting an education,” said Karen Falconer, the Toronto District School Board’s executive superintendent of Continuing and International Education.

Some 265 refugee children are living at the hotel at the moment. Only 75 took part in the morning programs Monday, although twice as many have signed up for Tuesday.

Ahmad al Sarji, 14, feels more welcome here compared to the school experiece in Lebanon.

“I understand why many of these parents aren’t comfortable at first with the idea of putting their kids on a school bus and letting them go,” said Falconer. “We have to build trust.”

Source: Young refugees offered pop-up classes while awaiting homes | Toronto Star

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2016 census drops income and benefits over faulty data given data to come from CRA

2016/02/10 2 Comments

Good change and use of existing and more accurate data:

When Canadians receive their census questionnaires this May, they’ll no longer be asked to report their income and benefits — something Statistics Canada says produced subpar data.

“To substantially reduce the burden on Canadians, and improve the quality of income data compared to previous censuses, Statistics Canada will use income and benefits data from the Canada Revenue Agency for all census respondents to replace questions previously asked on the 2011 National Household Survey questionnaire,” a recently-published order-in-council explained.

Aside from the return of the mandatory component of the long-form census, which Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains announced the day after being sworn in last November, the 2016 Census of Population will essentially mirror the 2011 National Household Survey.

“There are no new questions on the short or long form. To ensure comparability over time, with the exception of two changes, questions asked by the Census of Population will remain the same as they were in 2011,” a Statistics Canada agency spokesperson told iPolitics.

“First, the question on religion will not be included as the census program has asked this question only every 10 years since 1871. Second, in order to reduce the time required and make it easier for Canadians to respond, income questions will be replaced with more precise tax and benefit data that have been available to Statistics Canada since 1985.”

The latter change is welcomed by Philip Cross, formerly the chief economic analyst at the agency.

When asked about it, Cross referred to a paper he wrote with Munir Sheikh — the head of Statistics Canada who resigned in the wake of the Harper government’s decision end the long-form census in 2010.

That paper, published by the University of Calgary school of public policy last March, attempted to assess the extent of the middle class plight dominating the Canadian political discourse.

And one problem it highlighted was the “disquieting” difference between what people reported as income when surveyed, as in the census, and the tax data reported by the Canada Revenue Agency.

In a nutshell, Canadians were underestimating their income.

“One reason households routinely underestimate their income in surveys is they respond as if only wages and salaries are income, ignoring the growing importance of supplementary benefits such as employer contributions to pensions or health care that are included in taxable benefits,” Cross and Sheikh wrote.

Supplementary income, they added, had risen to over 13 per cent of all labour income.

“Most of these benefits accrue to middle-income earners, something that should be taken account of when examining how their real income has fared in survey data. As well, surveys exclude irregular sources of income, such as bonuses or stock options,” they wrote.

“Income tax data are less timely but more complete.”

Will miss the religion question but it has always been on a 10-year cycle.

You needn’t talk money anymore

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ICYMI: Caribbean Investment for Citizenship programmes: David Jessop

2016/02/10 Leave a comment

Good overview of the trend among many Caribbean countries to offer citizenship for investors, and the risks and consequences of that approach:

Since then, most Caribbean citizenship programmes have put in place, usually with external support, mechanisms to address these issues, but there remain clear variations in the way programmes operate.

While officials in North America and Europe make clear they have no objection to well run citizenship-by-investment schemes given they have ones of their own, they say they remain concerned, suggesting the possibility of sanctions against any nation unable to ensure their programmes meet international requirements.

Notwithstanding, other conceptual and practical problems remain.

At a purely economic level, it is hard to understand why such schemes are not designed to be sustainable in ways that bring continuing income to the country concerned. Without any residency requirement there is no long-term gain in the form of other taxes or fees. Moreover, in the absence in some cases of the equivalent of an independently controlled sovereign fund able to receive fees from citizenship, one-off income remains unrelated to long-term infrastructural, education or public health care needs.

Secondly, the willingness of some countries to grant citizenship to future generations as well as the applicant means that not only is there no long-term benefit from the passport holder’s descendants, but the issuing nation concerned has little or no idea about the identity or nature of growing numbers of future citizens.

Thirdly, the real danger remains that should it be discovered that a passport has been issued to someone who is on a criminal or terrorism watch list, ordinary citizens may face blanket requirements for visas where none previously existed.

There are also other problems requiring resolution. There is a lack of clarity in some nations about what donations – the preferred route for most applicants – are applied to; there is a plethora of sales agents globally and a need for the regulation of their activities; some countries do not have the capacity to deal adequately with the number of requests being made; few governments join up their promotional efforts with developers to try to encourage investments into productive real estate or tourism projects; high risk investment vehicles are being approved; in some nations opposition parties allege impropriety in relation to who benefits; and most schemes still lack real transparency.

As international views on monitoring money laundering and transparency evolve, and concerns grow about global security, it is likely that countries offering economic citizenship without greater transparency could become the subject of more intense international scrutiny.

It would be wise for the region as a whole to consider carefully how best to balance the understandable desire to create new sources of government revenue, with the wider implications and reputational risk inherent in citizenship-by investment- programmes.

Source: Commentary: The View from Europe: Citizenship programmes – more work to be done | Caribbean News Now

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McCallum promises ‘radical changes’ to Citizenship Act | hilltimes.com

2016/02/09 Leave a comment

No details yet on the ‘radical changes’ promised but a strong indication of Liberal caucus concerns, which seem primarily around language assessment.

However, Minister McCallum’s mandate letter only had three commitments:

  • Work with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to repeal provisions in the Citizenship Act that give the government the right to strip citizenship from dual nationals.
  • Eliminate regulations that remove the credit given to international students for half of the time that they spend in Canada and regulations that require new citizens to sign a declaration that they intend to reside in Canada.

But a clear signal of intent to do more.

I find it somewhat amusing that after being critical of some of the changes to citizenship made by the previous government, I now find myself defending them on language assessment:

Immigration Minister John McCallum says the government will be “producing radical changes” to the Citizenship Act in the next few weeks. Liberals have been telling him that the government should eliminate the language requirement for new immigrants to apply for Canadian citizenship, which was brought in by the Conservatives in 2014 as part of the controversial Bill C-24.

Mr. McCallum (Markham-Thornhill, Ont.) told The Hill Times that he’s aware of the concerns and will make an announcement in a few weeks. “We’re going to be producing radical changes to the citizenship bill,” Mr. McCallum said. “We’re going to be announcing the details of those changes in just a few weeks.”

Liberal MPs told The Hill Times that although they want new immigrants to acquire proficiency in both or at least one of the two official languages of Canada, it’s also a question of fairness, saying the language requirements disenfranchise new immigrants from their right to take part in the political process.

“It’s a big problem the way the system has been set up under the previous government for language requirements,” said rookie Liberal MP Shaun Chen (Scarborough North, Ont.) whose riding has the highest visible minority population of 90.1 per cent, in the country.

But in some cases MPs said new immigrants fail to achieve the required proficiency for a variety of reasons. For example, some immigrants come to Canada under the family sponsorship program, as parents or grandparents and may not have any knowledge or a limited understanding of English or French. At that age, MPs said, it becomes an uphill battle, for some, to learn a new language. Also, when new immigrants move to Canada, the first priority for them is to provide for their family and take care of the expenses and a significant number take up any odd job to earn a living which can mean they don’t have the time to learn a new language, MPs said.

“Often times, families are sponsoring elders and grandparents at a very elderly age. It’s very challenging and difficult for them to be at such a high proficiency of English or French. To me, it makes sense for us to [adopt a system] that’s more inclusive,” said Mr. Chen. “It’s helpful to families that need to sponsor, for example, grandparents. Those new Canadians play an important role to look after children to be there and to support the family and, absolutely, it’s something that we will need to revisit and look at.”

Canadian citizens have a significant number of advantages over permanent residents, including the ability to work, participating in the political process by voting and running for political office, having a passport that makes it easy to travel internationally, and having the right to get consular support overseas.

….Liberal MPs Darshan Kang (Calgary Skyview, Alta.) and Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-Newton, B.C.) also told The Hill Times that they are in favour of eliminating the language proficiency test as a requirement to apply for Canadian citizenship.

“Why don’t we let those individuals who are part and parcel of this economy, that are part and parcel of building Canada, the Canada we all aspire, why should they be denied a right to participate in our democratic process which is the fundamental difference that Canadians have over many other countries that we have come from,” said Mr. Dhaliwal, who came to Canada as an immigrant from India and whose riding has a 70.2 per cent of visible minority population. Mr. Kang’s riding has a 59.6 per cent of visible minority population.

Mr. Griffith, however, said that language proficiency is a critical element of a new immigrant’s integration and success in a new country. He said that he’s in favour of requiring new immigrants to learn English or French but also said that if new immigrants over the age of 54 are not able to learn either of the languages, this requirement should be waived.

“If you don’t learn English or French, depending on where you are, you’re basically hurting yourself. It means you’re not going to be able to integrate properly, you’re not going to be able to help your kids with school work, and everything like that. If you start to waive the language completely, you’re basically not helping people succeed in the society,” said Mr. Griffith.

Source: McCallum promises ‘radical changes’ to Citizenship Act | hilltimes.com

Filed under Citizenship, Citizenship Act, Language, Revocation Tagged with ,

Women remain a distinct minority in House: Nancy Peckford

2016/02/09 Leave a comment

Nancy Peckford of Equal Voice on the challenges of gender parity, particularly with respect to committee chairs (we will have the full analysis of committee leadership diversity once all have chairs and vice-chairs have been selected the week of February 15 – currently only half have done so but enough to demonstrate the trend highlighted below):

This said, the excitement about a gender-balanced federal Cabinet has worn off some as we come to terms with the fact that women remain a distinct minority in the House. Many have expressed their dismay at the fact that there are so few women on the 28 House and joint House/Senate committees in Parliament. Some have questioned the government’s commitment to leveraging the talents of the women.

Clearly, few have done the math. While it may seems egregious, the reality is that with women comprising just 26 per cent of the House of Commons, parity on committees is nearly impossible. There are only 88 women in the House (versus 250 men). 50 of those belong to the Liberal caucus—more than half of whom are serving as Cabinet ministers or parliamentary secretaries, thereby precluding their capacity to sit on committees. The remaining Liberal women MPs are fewer than the current number of committees established. The opposition caucuses have, among them, just 38 women MPs and a limited number of seats on each committee. Ensuring there are more women serving as committee members can only happen if there are far more women elected to the House. It’s an obvious point but one that seems lost on many commentators.

This is why Equal Voice is so keen to encourage and equip thousands of more women to seek election—at all levels of government. And it’s precisely why we are preparing to do this work soon. It may seem premature, but the reality is that we will need hundreds of more women across parties to position, to seek, and secure federal nominations in the coming years if we are to achieve anything close to parity in the House of Commons, not just Cabinet. Only the NDP broke 40 per cent female candidates in the past election. As we celebrate an historic 100 years since (some) women in Canada attained the right to vote, achieving equal numbers of women and men on the ballot within the decade should be the ultimate goal.

Source: Women remain a distinct minority in House | hilltimes.com

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At a time of stress, the moving music of Islam – The Washington Post

2016/02/09 Leave a comment

A reminder of the richness of Muslim culture:
The Al Firdaus Ensemble, from Granada, Spain, perform at the Diyanet Center of America in Lanham, Md., Saturday. From left are Abdessalam Naiti, Salma Vives, Ali Keeler, Omar Benlamlih and Muhammad Domínguez. (David Montgomery/The Washington Post)

At about the same time that Donald Trump was reminding everyone at the New Hampshire Republican presidential candidates’ debate Saturday evening that he had called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, a violin player and singer of Islamic religious songs named Ali Keeler was about to perform at a Turkish mosque in Lanham, Md., just outside the Capital Beltway.

Keeler, born in London and now based in Granada, Spain, is as surprised as anyone that his band of devout troubadours called the Al Firdaus Ensemble is filling concert halls in the United States. Given all the controversy over Islam in this country, “we didn’t know what to expect,” he said.

Keeler had wondered if there would be problems getting into the country. If there would be an American audience for a quintet of virtuosos playing songs in a style that is hundreds of years old. Then there was all the political rhetoric. Keeler was well aware that if the person in the White House a year from now is President Trump, a tour like this featuring Muslim artists from abroad might be impossible.

But Keeler has faith.

“I think, really, exactly what is going on in the end is going to be very positive for Muslims,” he said with the serene confidence of a man whose lyrics are rooted in mystical Islamic poetry and texts in which amazing marvels do come to pass, if you just believe. “I’m confident that the majority of Americans actually are in favor of a pluralistic, diverse society.”

Ali Keeler, founder of the Al Firdaus Ensemble, performs in a recent music video shot in Spain. (Courtesy Al Firdaus Ensemble and Amar Chebib)Ali Keeler, founder of the Al Firdaus Ensemble, performs in a recent music video shot in Spain. (Courtesy Al Firdaus Ensemble and Amar Chebib)

The remarkably timely tour of Al Firdaus has grown organically, as word spread among networks of young professional Muslims engaged in building vital social, educational and religious scenes in cities across America. The ensemble — which takes its name from the most elevated part of Paradise — played before several hundred people in the Princeton University Chapel on Friday night. Before that, the group performed in a chapel in Chicago. It is eventually headed to the San Francisco Bay area.

…Word of Al Firdaus spread over Facebook, and performances at the Turkish Diaynet Center of America on Saturday and the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Columbia Heights on Sunday quickly sold out, a total of nearly 450 seats.For those filling the halls, it was more than a night out.

“There’s been an assault on what Islam is and was,” Elashram said. “This is a way to reconnect to that heritage. . . . Islam is a way of life.”

While the musicians of Al Firdaus did not set out to influence the contentious discussions around Islam, they are aware that this tour, at this time, in some small way could have an impact. Their music is far from political. It’s all about beauty and faith and peace and devotion — which is a point in itself. Inherent in this musical tradition is the idea that truth is beauty and beauty is truth. Thus, for an artist to create or convey an Islamic thing of beauty is to tell a truth about Islam.

“When Islam has such bad press, we are ambassadors,” said Muhammad Domínguez, who plays the darbuka, a hand-held drum, in the ensemble. “I think there is no better moment for us as Muslims and believers and followers of the prophet Muhammad to bring these events to the whole world. Once falsehood appears, you should confront it with the truth. Al Firdaus is an open window to show the people the beauty of Islam.”

The Saturday and Sunday concerts were billed as “Sounds of the Alhambra,” referring to the ancient Moorish palace and fortress in Granada that still stands as a tranquil, if crowded, tourist attraction. Most of the people in the audience Saturday were connected to the Muslim community. They ranged in age from babies to seniors, and some dressed in traditional headscarves or robes.

With violin, cello, two darbukas, a harp-like qanun and sinuous vocals, the musicians of Al Firdaus held the audience silently spellbound at some moments and inspired them to ebullient poly-rhythmic clapping and singing at others. The melodies explored the common harmonic river fed by musical tributaries of Arabic, Moorish, Turkish, Celtic, flamenco and Andalusian sources. The words, mostly in Arabic, were composed epochs ago by holy men and mystical poets.

Source: At a time of stress, the moving music of Islam – The Washington Post

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New system to release census data faces uncertain future over delays

2016/02/09 Leave a comment

An admirable effort to make the Census easier to sort through runs into technical problems:

An $18-million project to make it easier to sort through reams of data from the coming census has been beset by delays and uncertainty that the three-year project will be done on time.

Called the “new dissemination model,” the project is designed to make it easier for visitors to the Statistics Canada website to organize, read and play with the data statistical agency collects, be it census or jobs data, or anything else the agency measures.

The end idea is to create a more interactive experience online instead of pages of static data tables, and also to simplify and standardize how information is presented.

It was all supposed to be ready in time for February 2017 when Statistics Canada releases its findings from this year’s census.

Statistics Canada and Shared Services Canada, the government’s central information-technology department that is building the new system, said the project has been delayed, but couldn’t say by how long or if it could still be completed on time.

Shared Services Canada said it has faced “a number of challenges” hosting the new system in its data centres that it is trying to address.

Internal government documents show there was a “final go/no-go” test on the system in December 2015. Statistics Canada hasn’t made a decision on the project following the test, the details of which neither agency would disclose, and is “currently analyzing the impact of the delay” to see what the next step will be.

The project is a microcosm of the problems auditor general Michael Ferguson raised last Tuesday in a critical review of Shared Services Canada. That audit found, among other things, that Shared Services Canada didn’t always communicate well with the departments and agencies it serves, leaving some of them in the dark about projects, and confusion over who was responsible for what.

As this will likely be more for general users, expect that I will continue to use the Beyond 2020 specialized software rather than this tool once (or if) it becomes available. My only wish is for Beyond 2020 to have a Mac version rather than having to run Windows.

I have been invited to a Stats Canada usability testing session this week which will give me a better sense of the planned approach.

Source: New system to release census data faces uncertain future over delays

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Douglas Todd: Canadian aboriginals joining Christian clergy despite residential-school legacy

2016/02/09 Leave a comment

Interesting piece by Douglas Todd on indigenous peoples and spirituality. When I was looking at religious affiliation in my book, Multiculturalism in Canada: Evidence and Anecdote, one of the bigger surprises was the low number following traditional Aboriginal spirituality:

The biggest group of Canadian aboriginals, 506,000, affiliate with Roman Catholicism. The National Household Survey found another 134,000 associate with the Anglican Church, 59,000 with the United Church and 36,000 are Pentecostal.

Almost one in five aboriginals say they have “no religion.” And 63,000 say they follow traditional aboriginal spirituality.

Dozens of aboriginal clergy in the Anglican, United Church, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches have trained through the Native Ministries Consortium at Vancouver School of Theology on the UBC campus. Every summer, 40 to 60 aboriginal theology students take programs at The Native Ministries Consortium, says director Ray Aldred, who is Cree.

The students are often from the West Coast — Salish, Haida, Tsimshian, etc. Other indigenous students hail from Ontario, the Arctic and the Prairies. That’s not to mention Lakota, Navajo or Nez Perce from the U.S.

Contrary to most media reports about Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Aldred believes “aboriginal anger about white Christianity” and the legacy of residential schools abated more than a decade ago.

“I think in the 1950s the churches began realizing they had made a mistake with residential schools. But it took another 50 years to get out of them,” said Aldred, 56.

The churches closed almost all residential schools by the 1970s, but the federal government’s billion-dollar compensation and healing program is continuing.

“Now we can do Christian faith on our own terms,” said Aldred, who was baptized in the United Church but is now a minister in the Alliance Church. “That’s the cool thing about Canada. We seem to find ways to get along.”

Both Aldred and Nahanee feel they have integrated Christianity into their aboriginal traditions.

“I believe Christianity is everyone’s religion. It’s not just white man’s religion,” said Nahanee, 63, who also chairs the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council.

Nahanee often holds a talking stick or eagle feather when he’s in the pulpit at St. Paul’s Church, which is decorated with aboriginal designs and where he co-ministers with his Filipina wife, Emma, 53.

The Catholic Church allows deacons, unlike its priests, to be married. However, Nahanee and Emma joked about how the church would not permit him to remarry if she died.

Even though Nahanee would like to see Pope Francis repeat earlier Vatican apologies for Canada’s residential-school system, including one that operated a few hundred metres from St. Paul’s Church, he regrets how some good things that happened in the schools are being ignored.

“People are now afraid to say positive things about the schools,” said Nahanee. He noted, for instance, that in the late 1800s the Catholic priest for St. Paul’s Church and its related residential school stopped an attempt by the legendary Vancouver saloon owner, “Gassy Jack” Deighton, to seize Squamish Nation land.

Nahanee is convinced Christianity, at its best, adds to aboriginal culture. He knows it might not be for everyone, but he urges aboriginals and others who are angry about the past to find ways to transcend it.

“I think forgiveness is a way of healing and getting on with our lives. We’ve had so many problems because of anger and alcoholism. It has to end.”

Source: Douglas Todd: Canadian aboriginals joining Christian clergy despite residential-school legacy

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Record Numbers Renounce Their U.S. Citizenship – Forbes

2016/02/08 2 Comments

Virtually none of the reporting I have seen situates this increase in the context of the total number of American expatriates. Estimates vary between 2 and 7 million, meaning that the 4,300 expatriations are tiny in relation to the expatriate population, between 0.2 and 0.06 percent.

Notwithstanding this, Victoria Ferauge, whose blog The Franco-American Flophouse I highly recommend for her insightful posts on citizenship issues, notes that the small numbers do not mean that it is unimportant.

For American expatriates affected by FATCA, it is.

More broadly,given the wide attention placed on citizenship renunciation in American media, it appears to strike a chord with many Americans who wonder why any American would voluntarily renounce their citizenship.

The numbers are less important perhaps than the symbolism, and the implications of a more instrumental view of citizenship than American citizenship having an intrinsic value by itself:

Once again, the number of Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship has gone up, up 560% from its Bush administration high. In 2015, there were approximately 4,300 expatriations according to the published names of individuals who renounced. The name and shame list is published quarterly, with the most recent three-month total being 1,058. That brings the total to 4,279 for 2015.

These numbers seem tiny compared to the influx of immigrants. Yet expatriations have historically been much lower. Moreover, the published list is also incomplete, with many not counted. Surprisingly, no one seems to know exactly how big the real number is, even though the IRS and FBI both track Americans who renounce citizenship. There is no single explanation, though with global tax reporting and FATCA, the list of the individuals who renounce keeps increasing,

(Photo credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)

2014 was also a record year with 3,415 published expatriates. The reasons that Americans renouncing citizenship is at an all-time high can be over family, tax and legal complications. Dual citizenship isn’t always possible, as this infographic from MoveHub shows. Some countries make citizens pay a fee to hand in their passport. Some countries have no fee, but America’s $2,350 fee is more than twenty times the average level in other high-income countries.

Source: Record Numbers Renounce Their U.S. Citizenship – Forbes

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Danish Communities Integrate Refugees As Politicians Debate Limits : NPR

2016/02/08 Leave a comment

More positive stories of integration than normally heard in Denmark:

KALLESTRUP: Most of the people here quickly realized – yes, this is going to happen – so now it’s a matter of making the best out of this. We need to get these people properly integrated into the Dane society.

NELSON: He says they greeted the first arrivals with Danish flags, flowers and home-baked bread. These days, weekly coffees are held at the mansion, during which the refugees catch up with their Danish neighbors. Many do so in Danish, including Khaldoun Freha, a Syrian house painter who also dabbles in poetry. He’s had 8 months of language lessons paid for by the government and talks to me about his new life in Danish.

KHALDOUN FREHA: (Speaking Danish).

NELSON: The neighbor, Kallestrup, praises Freha.

KALLESTRUP: Your Danish is good, you know? And we can have a conversation in Danish without any problems.

NELSON: Refugees like Freha can spend up to 3 years at the government’s expense integrating into Danish society. But the efforts of the volunteers here at Sunny Mountain have some residents, like Rashid Rishou, ready in a matter of months.

RASHID RISHOU: (Speaking Danish).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Danish).

NELSON: The Aleppo native, who has found full-time work as a carpenter, chats with family and friends about his new apartment, which he is planning to furnish with used items he’s found for sale online. Haifaa Awad says the sort of interactions seen at Sunny Mountain is vital to the successful integration of refugees. The Danish-Syrian anesthesiologist was born in Damascus and came to Denmark with her family as a refugee when she was 6. She says one of the brighter moments for her was joining her Danish youth soccer team.

HAIFAA AWAD: So it’s like all these small things that we often don’t think about. These are what makes us feel connected or less alienated as kids. And if we can try to build on that instead of building on what’s so different between us, I think we could move the debate to a whole new scale, especially now that it’s become – the debate has become so polarized.

NELSON: Opposition MP Pernille Skipper agrees, but says new laws to deter migrants threaten to scuttle Danish integration efforts. She’s especially critical of the measure that requires refugees to wait at least 3 years before applying to bring their families over.

PERNILLE SKIPPER: Because – you can imagine, you come to a new country and you sit for years and years and wait for your family to come, maybe they will die in the time passing. And what do you do? Do you concentrate on learning a new language and get a job, get an education – for integration to work, that’s going to be very, very difficult.

NELSON: Back at Sunny Mountain, Freha says he worries about the new law, too. He’s waiting for the government to grant his mother permission to come to Denmark, which even under the old law will take at least a year. He tells me in English, I miss my mom. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Copenhagen.

Source: Danish Communities Integrate Refugees As Politicians Debate Limits : NPR

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