What else can Canadians do to help alleviate the root causes leading to people becoming refugees?
Dr. Clark: Generally, Canadians need to keep asking their government to seek ways to get the sides to agree to end a conflict – as in Sudan or Palestine, for example. With a few exceptions, once peace is made, the UN system is good at helping it stick. If peace is made, Canadians can ask their government to help the UN make it stick by participating in peacekeeping and development aid. (It is important to remember that a military victory in Afghanistan or Sri Lanka is not the same thing as making peace.) Some efforts to limit the impact of a repressive regime that result in refugees can be undertaken at the UN Human Rights Council through accredited bodies like the Canadian Council of Churches. Things are worst when the cause of refugees is lack of viable central government (Somalia). With a longer timeframe, Canadians can work at the Human Rights Council to make the globalizing forces like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) fairer to developing nations. Although the
