Resettling refugees
with their families in communities where they can keep their culture, their
language and bring their extended families and even friends and live a
dignified life as pioneers is a solution to the refugee problem. Just like pioneers of the past were not
expected to integrate and lose their language and culture, refugees of today
turned pioneers should also not be expected to integrate. They need to be
treated with respect and dignity and should not only be tolerated, but as well accepted
and appreciated.
Countries that deny or greatly limit admission to refugees
seem on the surface to be inhumane. But when this “closed door” heartless policy
regarding refugees is seen in a long-term context, it can become easier to understand.
Just imagine finding yourself alone in Saudi Arabia as a refugee.
Many people feel self-gratification by offering refugees
refuge and shelter in their countries. They believe that as long as refugees
integrate into their society, they can become immigrants and with time benefit
the country by becoming productive tax paying citizens. But this is a very unrealistic possibility for
most of them. Many of them in the beginning do not wish to stay but rather
would prefer to go back to their families and friends and the homes they left
behind, as soon as it is safe for them to do so.
The harsh reality is that in the beginning, all of them end
up on welfare in a foreign culture where they cannot speak the language and are
looked down on, resented, despised and feared by the locals. They are separated
from their families and friends they left behind. Supported by welfare, with a guaranteed
roof over their heads, food and enough money for mobile phone, television, cigarettes,
and entertainment, they soon feel that they are better off staying than going
back home. They develop false hopes that if they stay long enough, they could
eventually get a job and bring their families over.
Unfortunately for most, they find themselves in a hole,
become hopelessly depressed and end up finding it too difficult to climb out of
and too easy to stay in. Most that successfully
flee their countries because of famine, war, or persecution are the most
capable and skilled and they are the people that the countries can afford the
least to lose.
One solution is to offer refugees “safe zones” in
neighboring countries where they can be closer to their homes, families and
friends they left behind and where they find themselves in a culture and language
less foreign and where they can easier return home one day.
Another solution is to resettle refugees with their families
in communities where they can keep their culture, their language and bring
their extended families and even friends and live a dignified life as pioneers.
This possibility is described in detail in the following posts in this blog.
Just like pioneers of the past were not expected to
integrate and lose their language and culture, refugees of today turned
pioneers should also not be expected to integrate. They need to be treated with
respect and dignity and should not only be tolerated, but as well accepted and
appreciated.
This blog has 20 Posts that can be opened by clicking on the links below.
CLICK on Titles
Post 4. Proposed people selected for pilot pioneer project.
Post 5. Proposed financing of pilot pioneer project
Financing is necessary to help the community reach a level of self-sufficiency.
Post 6. Putting this proposal into perspective
Post 7. Proposal for new “Homesteading” legislation for pioneers/refugees
Post 8. Statistics and information on Refugees
Both Switzerland and Canada are successful and prosperous countries thanks to their immigrants.
Post 11. Scenarios of what can follow the “pilot pioneer project”.
Post 15. Proposed work projects for pioneers
Post 16. Proposed reward system for pioneers to motivate them to work without pay
All, except for the dictators and the exploiting business, will benefit if refugees are allowed to find their freedom as pioneers.
Post 19. Pioneers for Russia
Canadian and Swiss politicians are not yet ready or willing to share their freedom with the people that many claim they helped to a great extent to be robbed of freedom. How about Russian politicians?
Post 20. Pioneers for the World
If you know of a place near where you live that is a worth-while tourist attraction site, but there are no facilities and roads or trails getting there. The reason why these gems are missing roads and trails leading to them is probably because the roads and trails would cost too much to build and are thus deemed to be not profitable in the short term. Here is where refugees turned pioneers can help you.
The concept:
The concept is to have an
international cooperation to help refugees help themselves by allowing them and
helping them to resettle and integrate in a new land. As an example, Canada and
Switzerland are used.
It is proposed that Canada, which
has plenty of unsettled lands with a potential to be used by tourists, reenacts
its homesteading laws to provide land.
It is proposed that Switzerland ,
which has successful apprentice programs, organizes, manages and trains
communities of refugees to become successful pioneers.
It is proposed that private sector
and NGOs help the pioneers get started by providing them with material needed.
The goal:
The goal is to start a pilot project
to allow refugees which have a very negative connotation to become pioneers
which have a very positive connotation.
What I have done so far:
I have documented these ideas
and published them on the internet so that they are available to read, to be
commented on, and to be promoted.
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to European and Canadian universities and NGOs.
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to all the Canadian and Swiss politicians on provincial and national levels suggesting that they fund a university study program to carry out a feasibility analysis of such an idea.
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to the editors of Canadian English daily newspapers.
Win-win situation:
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to European and Canadian universities and NGOs.
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to all the Canadian and Swiss politicians on provincial and national levels suggesting that they fund a university study program to carry out a feasibility analysis of such an idea.
I have emailed an open letter with the link to the blog to the editors of Canadian English daily newspapers.
Win-win situation:
Canada can benefit by gaining
prestige, tourism and new productive citizens.
Switzerland can benefit by gaining
prestige.
Private donors can benefit by
advertising their businesses.
This blog has 20 Posts that can be opened by clicking on the links below.
CLICK on Titles
Post 1. Proposal for pilot pioneer community
This is a proposal
to start a pilot pioneer settlement in Canada for refugees. It is argued that
Canada can benefit from pioneers in much the same way it has benefited from
pioneers in the past - provided that homesteading laws of the past are adapted
for the present modern situation. Careful selection of refugees to guarantee
availability of skills, cooperative self-sufficient environment, modern
materials and machinery, friendly neighbors and existing infrastructure such as
railway lines and roads make homesteading much easier and less dangerous then
what it was in the past. The growing tourist industry and the rich forestry and
mineral resources of unsettled land in the north allow homesteaders a niche
market that can be exploited. It
is not a question of whether it be profitable but rather if it can be self-sustainable and offer
refugees and their children a dignified free life that we all deserve. Canadians
are seen not willing to move to remote regions and face the hardships of living
and trying to make a profit in remote unsettled lands. Many refugees on the other hand would be
thankful to be given a chance to do just that. Refugees make the best pioneers. Refugees, turned into modern
day pioneers to settle and open up Northern Canada for tourists, can offer
Canada a lot more than just international prestige.
The proposal covers the concept and highlights the international cooperation needed between EU countries, Switzerland, and Canada to implement such a project. A location is proposed as well as the needed facilities, skills, and tools, the needed financing and legislation, statistics and arguments for the concept, scenarios of future pioneer settlements and other suitable locations if the pilot project is successful. Finally a proposal is discussed to fund a joint university program to convince the politicians to implement such a project.
The proposal covers the concept and highlights the international cooperation needed between EU countries, Switzerland, and Canada to implement such a project. A location is proposed as well as the needed facilities, skills, and tools, the needed financing and legislation, statistics and arguments for the concept, scenarios of future pioneer settlements and other suitable locations if the pilot project is successful. Finally a proposal is discussed to fund a joint university program to convince the politicians to implement such a project.
Post 2. Proposed location for pilot pioneer community
The 35 million Canadians living close to the USA
border in the south are unwilling to live in more remote areas further north.
These remote areas further north are rich with natural resources such as lumber
and attractive places for tourists. The
entire 5000km length of Canada, from east to west, borders on a
norther frontier which is undeveloped nature laced with rivers and
dotted by lakes in a virgin forest setting rich with wildlife. There are many possible
locations for pioneer communities along roads and railway lines leading to
existing settlements that attract tourists.
One example is near Thompson Manitoba, between Winnipeg and Churchill. Churchill is situated along Manitoba's 1,400 km coastline, on Hudson Bay at the meeting of three major biomes: marine, boreal forest and tundra, each supporting a variety of flora and fauna. There is a growing tourism industry. Each year, 10,000–12,000 eco-tourists visit, about 400-500 of whom are birders. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World". |
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Post 3. Proposed infrastructures for pilot pioneer project
Examples are given of communal
facilities that need to be built to house the pioneers when they arrive, as
well as the homestead houses. The construction uses local available lumber and
stone. Heating is by wood obtained locally and charcoal manufactured locally.
Insulation materials and windows are used to make the housing ecologically
efficient. The facilities are constructed by the pioneers.
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Post 4. Proposed people selected for pilot pioneer project.
The community members are carefully selected so that
it has necessary skill for self-sufficiency.
Post 5. Proposed financing of pilot pioneer project
Financing is necessary to help the community reach a level of self-sufficiency.
Post 6. Putting this proposal into perspective
It is not a question of profitability, but
rather of being able to live a dignified life in freedom. Nature rich in
natural resources provides the possibility to not only survive, but to live a
healthy life. Modern technology allows people to live in remote wilderness
safely and comfortably.
Post 7. Proposal for new “Homesteading” legislation for pioneers/refugees
"Homesteading laws" of the past need to be
revitalized and adapted to meet the needs of the present.
Post 8. Statistics and information on Refugees
Both Switzerland and Canada are successful and prosperous countries thanks to their immigrants.
Post 9. What we can do to help refugees now
By treating refugees humanely, we are showing our
children by our example that we are all brothers ans sisters in the family of
mankind and have a responsibility to treat others as we would like to be
treated ourselves. We all have a worth and we can all learn from each
other. By including refugees in our communities, all gain a sense of
thankfulness. We become more aware and grow to appreciate more our own good
fortune to be able to help, instead of to rely on help. We realize that giving
is much more rewarding than getting. Refugees in our communities
allows us to live a life of love, compassion and tolerance rather than just to
preach it.
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Post 11. Scenarios of what can follow the “pilot pioneer project”.
Examples of other locations that need pioneers to
build trails, roads, campgrounds, and facilities to open them up to tourists.
Post 12. Proposal for a feasibility study for this pilot pioneer project
Politicians need to be convinced by academics of the
feasibility of such a pioneer project as described in this blog.
Post 13. Self-sufficiency in the pioneer settlement
Nature provides all animals, including humans to live
healthy self-sufficient lives. The internet provides people to gain the
necessary knowledge to live self-sufficiently off the land.
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Post 14. A call to action
It is the role of universities to offer solutions to
the politicians to solve problems. Both universities and politicians seem
to be sleeping at the wheel.
This Post 14 contains a summary of this blog in English, Für eine Zusammenfassung des gesamten Blog in deutscher Sprache, finden Sie in diesem Post. Pour un résumé de la totalité du blog en français, voir ce post. |
Post 15. Proposed work projects for pioneers
Pioneers can build trails, roads, campgrounds, tourist
facilities and offer tourist activities.
Working for someone else without a salary is not very
motivating. Working for yourself and your family without a salary is very
rewarding.
Switzerland can not only select the refugees with the
right skill sets to start a pioneer community,
pilot , but train refugees for the right skill sets they will need as pioneers to be successful.
Post 18. Win-win outcome
pilot , but train refugees for the right skill sets they will need as pioneers to be successful.
Post 18. Win-win outcome
All, except for the dictators and the exploiting business, will benefit if refugees are allowed to find their freedom as pioneers.
Post 19. Pioneers for Russia
Canadian and Swiss politicians are not yet ready or willing to share their freedom with the people that many claim they helped to a great extent to be robbed of freedom. How about Russian politicians?
Post 20. Pioneers for the World
If you know of a place near where you live that is a worth-while tourist attraction site, but there are no facilities and roads or trails getting there. The reason why these gems are missing roads and trails leading to them is probably because the roads and trails would cost too much to build and are thus deemed to be not profitable in the short term. Here is where refugees turned pioneers can help you.
