We see good people suffering for years due to government inaction, and when they're finally in a safe space we provide such limited support that the suffering just changes. Knowing that, after years of effort, some of Bakr's family had to flee to Turkey instead of joining their family in Canada is frustrating. Seeing the middling support when they reach Edmonton is frustrating. Seeing the slow progress - and in some cases dubious progress - with the UN is frustrating. We see him shot at for no reason, we see him avoiding mass killings and rockets and car bombs, we see him picking out the dangers of his life like a seasoned veteran. The very first chapter sets the tone of what the war is like - dangerous, arbitrary, terrifying - and from there we see how this chaos is basically normal, how even as a pre-teen he has to protect his family and learn tricks to avoid dangers in the streets. Yeung does a fantastic job of relaying Bakr's story in an impactful way. I'm not sure if it's quite right to say it changed how I view refugees, but it highlighted how messed up the system is and how people aren't getting the help they need. Homes provides good insight into the circumstances of Syrian refugees in particular. It's often hard to grasp what life is like for refugees, both before and after they leave their country.
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