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by Bharathi Mohan (Author)
In the early 2000s, Canada became among the top western destinations for desperate Sri Lankan Tamil civilians who fled death and destruction at the height of the civil war in their country. For many who came as refugees, the cost of freedom began to unravel within a few months of their arrival as they faced the harsh reality of their new environment. Without the support of elders and relatives, they found their family cohesion splitting apart. It was a different sort of conflict, one which led to wife abuse, crime involvement, alcohol addiction, drugs, gang warfare, pre-marital sex and a host of problems, all blamed on the ills of western society. The traditional values and behavior patterns of these refugees presented a huge barrier to their successful integration in society. Unable or unwilling to adjust to modern society's norms, these migrants from mainly the Jaffna district were left with misgivings in this vast multi-cultural, but western-oriented country. Essentially, this large group of migrants was caught in a refugee trap, facing isolation in freedom country and without a U-turn path to their beloved land. Against the background of actual events in Sri Lanka and Canada, this book provides an intriguing account of one such family's immigration experience after their move to Canada. It documents the almost daily crises that dogged the family of five over a one-year period and provides important messages and stark warnings to would-be migrants, particularly those with strong cultural tradition from Asian countries. The narrative starts with the Siva family moving into a townhouse in the suburbs of Toronto in the spring of 2004 when migration from the island nation was reaching a peak. Although this book focuses on one family's bitter migration experience, it provides powerful insights into the lives of ordinary Tamil migrants whose first love was not their adopted country. Readers are cautioned that although the characters in this story may resemble real persons, they are entirely fictional. Regarding the criminal behavior of some migrants depicted in the story, the author wishes to acknowledge that the Tamil community in Canada is by and large responsible and law abiding. On the positive side, the book outlines the determined efforts by the minority Tamil people to keep their culture, tradition and history alive in Canada. Readers are transported to some of their colorful festivals and cultural events that form part of the community's rich contribution to this multi-cultural nation. With the change in the political landscape in Sri Lanka after the defeat of the Tamil rebels in 2009, immigration from that country continued relentlessly with the migrants still bringing with them the same outlook as those before them.
Author Biography
Bharathi Mohan is a former newspaper journalist who now lives in Toronto and works as a free lance writer. He has reported news and events in Asia, Europe and Canada for over two decades. It was while working as an editor for a community newspaper in Vancouver that he came in contact with Sri Lankan migrants who provided him with the material for his first book, Refugee Trap. Mohan did his own research in Toronto and found that many Sri Lankan Tamils regretted the move to Canada where they faced hardships and the breakdown of family unity due to social, cultural and settlement issues. Their narratives in the land of refuge ran parallel to the stories of destruction and horror in their homeland in north Sri Lanka. This story behind the story rarely found its way to newspaper pages. Long after the civil war ended, the accounts given by the Tamil refugees in Canada remained in his mind. The decision to write a story that was waiting to be told came out of a moment of inspiration. With an eye for detail and a nose for news, Mohan recreated their tales in this composite book of stories which highlighted the migrants' ordeal in Canada against a backdrop of the civil war in Sri Lanka. "I knew I had the material required to write a compelling book, but the challenge was to depart from my usual style of factual reporting toward one that was more descriptive and gave more play to characters, events and locations. I had to continually remind myself that I was writing a book of stories, not reporting the news."
