Editor:
I vividly recall the day I arrived in Canada as a refugee in 1989.
I was young, full of idealism and hope for my future in a new country far away from a brutal civil war, foreign occupations, and the clutches of intelligence services adept at torture and arranging disappearances.
Canada adopted me and made it possible for me to earn a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. It was not easy, but Canada offered me a chance to live with dignity.
What I remember most fondly about the day I arrived is how kind and welcoming Canadians are.
But this is not about me.
It is about the vile campaign unleashed against immigrants, refugees and, especially, Syrian refugees, during the current byelection in Burnaby South. It is about the use of the horrific murder of teenager Marrisa Shen to serve the ambitions of unscrupulous, self-serving politicians who seek to divide people rather than bring them together.
We must not allow fear to be used as a weapon and not permit vulnerable members of our society to be victimized.
Nor should we elect or tolerate politicians who wield fear and hate as a weapon to win elections.
Canadians are better than that.
Rafeh Hulays
