We’re Protecting Syrian Refugees–How About Protecting Canadian Children?

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph. - Haile Selassie

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts. - Mahatma Gandhi

A story has come to my attention in recent days that I need your help in understanding.

I’m not a stupid guy, having IPOd a company while being blessed to count all but one of the Fortune 25 as clients of mine as well as innumerable government agencies, not-for-profits, etc., in multiple countries.

But I am asking for your help to help me understand a story that my mind simply can’t figure out.

Over the course of the past 6 months, the Canadian government has bent over backward to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.  This is a noble and essential effort and one that Canada has excelled at for years – bringing hope and love to those who lost sight of both in a life of despair, violence and complexity.

Even with the threat that some of these refugees may be terrorists imbedded within a stream of humanity desperately looking for hope, we accept the refugees anyway. We do so because we believe that it is better to accept such a risk – that we will deal with any miscreants should they surface while simultaneously helping the majority of the people who are floundering.

The reality is that if we always insisted that helping someone must always produce a positive result with absolutely no risk, then we would never help anyone at all.

What kind of world would we have then?

How would you feel if you needed help but were rejected because there was a risk involved in helping you?

Exactly.

So help me to understand something.

Some years ago, a Canadian citizen by the name of Alison Azer (her married name) fell in love with and married a man by the name of Saren Nazer.  He was an immigrant himself, coming from Iran.

His story is complex and is best told in a National Post article that I will reveal in a moment.

The long and short of the story is that this man, a man who raised so many flags with CSIS that his permanent resident status was constantly held up, married a Canadian citizen and had four kids with her.

This is also a man who was charged by the RCMP for uttering threats against his wife, causing her to seek shelter with her children in a woman’s shelter in Victoria.

He also became more and more radicalized regarding Kurdish independence and was tied by CSIS to potential Kurdish terrorist groups.

In other words, this person sounds like trouble.

It is the 21st century, a time when we allegedly defend battered women and children and protect the safety of Canadians against such people.

And despite all of this, in the custody battle that ensued as their marriage fell apart, this man was granted the right to take the four children out of the country for “a vacation”.

He never came back.

That was over 7 months ago.

Their heart breaking story can be found in the following links:

• ‘There are four Canadian kids being held captive in a war zone and no one seems to be doing anything about it’ (National Post)
• Editorial: The government can save these children (Ottawa Citizen)
• Canadian mom Alison Azer fears abducted kids in Iraq with their dad (CBC – The Current)
• Find Azer Kids Now (public awareness website)

Here is where I need your help.

We are told that our government will go to the ends of the earth to protect us and to help us in times of need.

We have watched our government go to the ends of the earth to bring 25,000 Syrians here to experience real living in a nation built upon peace, love and opportunity.

Meanwhile ….

Four Canadian children somewhere in the world are crying to their mom for help.

A Canadian woman weeps for her children who have been taken illegally from her, with the courts subsequently having given her sole custody of them.

The government knows where the children are.

And yet our government does nothing to help them or her. Maybe it's because many of our elected officials seem to prefer to tackle the easy stuff that generates great PR / feel-good for their own needs rather than take on the important things for their constituents that is also more difficult to solve.

The media does little to carry the message into the light of day, preferring to pontificate ad nauseum about matters more sensationalist but no more important than the safety of Canadian children.

Mayors of major Canadian cities have no comment but tell them that a puppy is lost in their city and they are all over it.

And so my question is ….. why?

Why do we allow this to happen?

If we are a so-called great nation extending a hand of love and understanding to those who are lost in the world, why can’t we do the same to one of our own who merely wants her children back?

Wouldn’t you want your children back if this happened to you?

Exactly.

So why aren’t we doing more to help this woman and her children?

Can you answer that one question for me …..

…. please?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

The Real Problem With The Syrian Refugees

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. - Buddha

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. - Winston Churchill

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

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In a refugee camp somewhere in Turkey, in the middle of the chaos, the blended cacophony of animal, man and machine, the stench of unwashed bodies, the stink of raw sewage and the smell of cooking food, a small child sat, looking from side to side for comfort and for love ……

…. crying.

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…. while evil men and women planned ways to sneak terrorists into Europe amongst the innocent fleeing for their lives ….

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…. while powerful people who never liked the European Union saw the tsunami of refugees as the leverage they’ve always sought to disband the union or at least re-establish the borders of their nation as in days of old ….

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…. while other powerful people sought to leverage the plight of the desperate to prove that the idea of the European Union was worth saving ….

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…. while certain banks and corporations sought ways to improve the bottom line while promoting a message of service to humanity ….

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…. while ordinarily good, rational people tore each other apart on social media over whether refugees were safe to accept or not, forgetting that an intelligent, respectful common ground needed to be found quickly between the people who believed that all refugees were terrorists and those who believed that no terrorists could sneak in amongst the displaced, arguing from the comfort of their homes as people died in the wilderness ….

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…. while politicians sought to leverage useful material from an affront to humanity, either within their party, within their nation or across the globe ….

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…. while charities sought donations to help the ravaged and the homeless, even those charities who had no intention of actually helping them ….

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…. while mass media sought the best heart-tugging story to win the ratings war, oblivious to the real human causalities ….

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…. while military engines around the world cited the refugee crisis as the justification for a budget request for a new gun, bomb, plane or ship design ….

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…. while religions attempted to re-establish why they mattered as they demonstrated their outreach potential or their innocence ….

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…. three men in a darkened room observed the holographic images before them.

“This crisis spins forever as does many other that they have piling up”, observed the first man as he stared at the images, “Why do you think this is?”

“Perhaps”, offered the second, “they are so focused on their own intentions that they have lost sight of what they should be doing and the carnage that is ensuing while they pontificate on what is best.  Maybe they don’t really care as much as they would have others believe.”

“Or maybe”, said the third quietly, “just maybe, it is possible that too many people benefit from things remaining just the way they are, with the innocent being tossed aside as collateral damage.”

The images before them disappeared until only one was remaining.

As they stared at the image before them, the first man said, “Maybe it is none of these reasons.  Maybe there is a simpler but darker reason that you are both overlooking.  What if such divisiveness was useful to someone for another reason?”

The second man started to speak but then closed his mouth in silence, reflecting on what he had just heard before returning his gaze to the hologram.

The three men stared in silence at the image of a small child ….

…. crying.

To be continued.

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© 2015 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Background

Read into this what you will, come to any conclusions you wish to reach, accept any responsibility that you have the courage to accept and blame all the people you want to blame.

While we argue over “stuff”, while people seek to use such events to their advantage, while people argue vehemently, disrespectfully, dishonestly and ruthlessly without facts (relying on emotion or agendas) and while people lack the ability to solve problems intelligently, respectfully, collaboratively and ego-lessly, innocent people are dying, either genuine refugees or people at the hands of terrorists.

We need to recognize the importance of finding solutions to both problems quickly.

And then we need to recognize that we are all either part of the problem ….

…. or part of the solution ….

…. but not both.

Which would you like to be?

Which do you think you are?

How do you know?

Series Origin

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy advisor and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” (note the quotes) and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.