FLIGHT AND FREEDOM: Stories of Escape to Canada
The global number of people currently displaced from their home country - more than 65 million - is higher than at any time since World War II. Yet in recent years Canada has deported, denied, and diverted countless refugees. Is Canada a safe haven for refugees or a closed door? This project, 'Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada', is made up of images that were originally published in a book by Maytree Foundation, a private non-for-profit organization in Canada. They focus on Canadians who arrived as refugees from notable conflicts around the world – from WWII to the ongoing War in Afghanistan – and from persecution in their home countries. These are stories of forged passports, human smugglers, armed guards, drifting at sea, starvation, rape, death and survival. Each portrait is accompanied by a story that begins with an escape that is sometimes harrowing and always remarkable. The narrative then turns to contemporary lives and careers, and the impact of refugees-turned-Canadians in the communities they call home, from Halifax to Vancouver and Toronto. And the final question: Would they get in to Canada today?
(The text in this gallery appears in the book Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada, and is reprinted here with the authors' permission.)
Official Book Website: FLIGHT AND FREEDOM
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/d1cedd87-ddf2-4fca-92b2-604e2018a085/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_1822.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Sabreen
From Negev Desert, Israel
Living in Canada since 2000’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/0778eb66-767a-429e-b1a8-795753d6a734/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_1044.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Marko
From Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina
Living in Canada since 1990’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/0eba11f2-2cde-4948-bb8b-b86c51ba7d8a/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_1288.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Max Farber, told by Bernie Farber
From Sokolow Podlaski, Poland
Lived in Canada since 1940’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/d41ef4c6-b76a-4c5d-baed-a87aa45f6ea7/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_5552.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Claudio Durán
From Santiago, Chile
Living in Canada since 1970’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/5ed24e26-8df2-482f-aa68-f796d0d2817e/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_4546.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Robi Botos
From Budapest, Hungary
Living in Canada since 1990’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1200,1800,1600,1800/0-0-0/0ba1faa7-2296-45d8-8873-e9e8ef1b8048/1/1/7_Christopher_Manson_Christine_name_changed_to_protect_identity_Christine_is_from_Rwanda_She_has_been_living_in_Canada_since_2011_From_the_project_Flight_and_Freedom_Stories_of_Escape_to_Canada_.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=ae6743b742829beb9c3d0e48c683b268f3d3aa05c09d29a43f3b36d78ef19f19)
Christine
From Rwanda
Living in Canada since 2011
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1200,1800,1600,1800/0-0-0/86407fc3-7fda-428c-8f75-7f0422c6e38a/1/1/8_Christopher_Manson_Randy_Singh_Randy_is_from_Georgetown_Guyana_He_has_been_living_in_Canada_since_2013_From_the_project_Flight_and_Freedom_Stories_of_Escape_to_Canada_.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=ae6743b742829beb9c3d0e48c683b268f3d3aa05c09d29a43f3b36d78ef19f19)
Randy Singh.
From Georgetown, Guyana.
Living in Canada since 2013
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/aa04b328-8a9d-447c-bb34-ba63058451ba/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_2516.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Mie Tha Lah
From Hein Zae Mining Zone, Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar
Living in Canada since 2000’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/8051d80e-a1a4-4646-b459-16115b56c832/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_4777.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Avtar Sandhu
From Kandola Khurd, India
Living in Canada since 1980’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/35d004cd-5d51-4fa7-a4ae-426a2427b8d5/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_2233.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Tarun
From Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Living in Canada since 2000’s
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/b45b67fb-31d2-4da5-bddf-9061e8f3d895/0/0/0/0,0,1500,2250,1600,2250/0-0-0/d106f02d-82e2-488c-bc74-3d9fba0673e3/1/1/flight-and-freedom-christopher-manson-IMG_5671.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037516423~hmac=d6ea06a6b8945748b7a9b5a267bb427bf3d0393219ba7f51f048930327e33933)
Joseph
From Freetown, Sierra Leone
Living in Canada since 1990’s