Refugee

“Did she now know what it was like to have so little agency? To be faced with such cruel options it was as if there was no choice at all?”
― Sharon Bala, The Boat People

My Review:

Before I even start, I must comment on the exquisite cover art, which is beautiful and perfect for the story itself.

The Boat People is not for the faint of heart, which I kind of am. Though I read many a dark book, this one I had reservations about reading due to what I figured would be the heart breaking content and the anger the book might inspire.

Immigration is a topic that never loses its relevancy and in this book we meet a group of refugees, fleeing from Sri Lanka to Canada. There are over five hundred of them and they arrive by boat. They are seeking new lives, arriving from a war torn country and dreaming of how it will be in a new, more welcoming country.

Except they are not welcomed. Instead, they are jailed. And there are child separations, deportation hearings and the questions begin to sweep the media and all the country. Are these people REALLY refugees? Or are they....terrorists?

So I went into this quite apprehensive. While I enjoyed the story, I did not fall in love with it although I'd be the first to recommended it as it is both interesting and deeply educational.

And indeed it does spark those feelings of anger..and bewilderment for the treatment of these fellow human beings. I also learned alot as I'd not known much of this story..it is a work of fiction but is based on a true story to an extent.

That being said, I found it very hard to follow. The writing is beautiful but also intricate and complicated. There were a bit to many characters for me and I felt it (the book) was a bit overly long. I neither disliked it or fell in love with it. Which surprised me as I was expecting one or the other.

And to be honest..and as others have said...the character of Mahindan was such a compelling one and his story told so powerfully that he was really the main focus of my attention. I found myself impatiently flipping to get back to his story. His fate...and the fate of his six year old son....meant something to me and I really found his story pretty much outshined literally everything else in the book.

The Boat People would make a great Book club read. In the last four years in America, since Trump was in office (feels good to say WAS!!) we have all seen the dehumanization of the immigrant community and the objectifying of human beings and its been painful. Maybe that is why I was not riveted. We've been living it here in America for so long.

But I'd no idea these issues were so prevalent in Canada so I learned something new!

SPOILERS:

I was OK with the end although I realize others felt cheated. It seems vague endings are all the rage now. I felt strongly that it was implied Mahindan was able to stay in Canada. I would have liked the ending to be fleshed out a bit more but I was OK with it.

I would indeed recommend this book and am glad I checked it out at last! 3.5 stars from me. ( )

On August 13, 2010 the MV Sun Sea landed in Victoria with 492 Tamil refugees on board. This book is a fictionalized rendering of the aftermath. Manages to convey the Civil War in Sri Lanka and the tensions of the characters very well. Made me feel blessed that I never had to experience something like that. ( )

After ten years of Civil war in Sri Lanka, the Tamils have come out on the bottom. Their lives, livelihoods and families are gone. They have been forced into camps and retributions are common.

Is it any wonder that many are desperate to escape?

And so a ship arrives in the Canadian port of Vancouver, British Columbia with over five hundred Tamil refugees on board, hoping for new lives. Naturally, the immigration system is overwhelmed. The refugees are housed in former prisons with men, women and even children separated, while officials sift through records to weed out any who might be terrorists. To be sent back to Sri Lanka will be almost certain death.

The story is told from several points of view. Mahindan has survived the war with his young son. His story is the most complex as we see a dual time line skipping back and forth between the ten years of war and terrible loss and his time in the prison without his son, waiting for his refugee status to be decided.

We also see a continuing story of a young woman, an adjudicator determining the fate of the refugees. She has no experience in the field and her appointment came from political ties.

The last viewpoint is another young woman; a law student wanting to be a corporate lawyer and resenting the fact that her corporate internship has been disrupted as she has been loaned to one of the overworked lawyers providing legal help for the refugees.

I enjoyed this human face of the refugee crises. The story was based on true events that occurred in 2009 and 2010 when two shiploads of Sri Lankan refugees arrived in Canada.

The Boat People won several prizes and was the selection for Canada Reads in 2018. 4 stars ( )

A careful tale of immigration, making decisions on immigration, innocence and guilt, and our histories of immigration. An important book that balances humanity against politics and war. Please read! ( )