Daniel Tseghay and Syrian Refugees

Canada: In recent months, Canada has been inundated with press coverage and debate over the Syrian refugee crisis, according to Rabble. The crisis and subsequent arrival of 25,000 refugees to Canada has been meticulously documented, including sentimental photo-ops with politicians, to a horrific pepper-spraying hate crime in Vancouver. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. But Daniel Tseghay, an Eritrean writer and organizer in Vancouver, says the crisis has put "a focus on some groups of people at the expense of others." In fact, Tseghay starts his day off with an Internet news search with the key-term "refugee" and every hit is related to Syrian refugees. Panelists Juliane Okot Biket, Daniel Tseghay, Josiane Anthony and Samson Nashon addressed why African refugees in particular were forgotten and excluded. "In Canada, the refugee crisis has become synonymous with the Syrian refugee crisis," said Tseghay. This gap between coverage and reality was one of the topics discussed at the panel discussion "African refugees: A panel highlighting excluded and forgotten people" on February 24 in Vancouver. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.