The Boat People by Sharon BalaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A powerful look at the difficult decisions faced by people in war zones and by refugee boards. Nothing is simple. Is it better to risk admitting someone who might be a terrorist (however unlikely that is) or risk sending someone who is probably not a terrorist (but might be) back to an almost certain death?
(The paragraph below contains a semi-spoiler — it is about a situation that arises in the book but doesn’t tell you how it is resolved).
I was also shocked to discover that Canada has also involuntarily separated refugee children from parents (assuming the example in the book is based on reality). But, here again, the author presents the subtleties. Is a young refugee child better off in a jail but with his loving father or out of jail with a caring foster family? He loses (at least temporarily, and who knows for how long) the security of being with the one person who he knows and trusts, who speaks his language, and who is his source of comfort. On the other hand, if he stays with the dad he is in an inappropriate environment for a child, has no other kids to play with, can’t go to school, has less opportunity to learn the local language). Not easy questions to answer.
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