Thirty-eight years ago Ethel Suarez came to Red Deer as a political refugee.
Her journey in 1974 began much like many of the Syrian refugees who today are fleeing their homes from a bloody civil war.
Not knowing what was on the other side, she and her husband crossed the Uruguay River to reach Concordia in Argentina in 1974. Her three young children stayed with her mother in northern Uruguay until it was safe to join them six months later.
It was their only option because if the couple stayed they would have been thrown in jail or worse because of their political beliefs.
“This is no movie,” said Suarez, 70. “This is real life. I saw it 38 years ago. Being a refugee is the same today in 2015. I thought being a refugee would not happen anymore and the situation is getting worse. Some people are de-sensitized and they do not realize we are human people.”
Frustrated by the misconceptions about refugees in light of the Syrian crisis, Suarez wanted to dispel the misunderstandings and bring more awareness to the reality of what life is like for refugees who seek a safe haven.
For three years, she and her family stayed in Buenos Aires where they lived in fear and under the threat of being picked up or sent back to Uruguay.
Eventually it was just too much and like many of their friends they were forced to seek help from the United Nations.
They had the choice of either going to Austria, Sweden or Canada.
“We didn’t know,” said Suarez. “The man said Canada would be a good country. And we went. We left Argentina Sept. 3 and arrived Sept. 4, 1977. My husband, myself and my three children.”
Suarez said you do not become a refugee because you want to.
“It’s how you are going to survive,” she said. “It’s true. When you are a refugee you have to make a decision — you go or you stay. I was fortunate I did not have to cross the Mediterranean Sea. I had to cross a river but you never know what is on the other side of the river like the Syrian people. You never know.”
Suarez said she is also frustrated that people believe refugees want to take Canadian jobs. She said that is the least of a refugee’s worries when they are fleeing war-torn countries.
“When I came here I was simply thinking about the safety of my family,” she said. “That was it … If we are in the position we are now it is because of our effort to integrate into the community and to help others as well.”
Suarez said the mostly Chile and Uruguayan refugees who came to Red Deer took every opportunity they could to learn English, find a job and a place to live. The immigrants and refugees were housed at the former Parks Hotel in downtown Red Deer.
“We are not a burden of this society,” she said. “People say they come for free. Forget it. We pay back the government. If you miss a payment, you pay interest.”
At the time, the Central Alberta Refugee Effort was not yet formed and there was little support or resources for newcomers. Suarez said it was a struggle in the late 1970s and two or three families would often room together in one house.
Suarez said she remembered some people were put to work as housekeepers at the hospital and hotels and loading trucks at the factories. A group of immigrants found their way to Red Deer College where they took English classes paid out of their own pockets.
These days there are more supports and resources in the community for newcomers.
"My family was lucky to find good people and good friends,” said Suarez. “But when you don’t speak the language how are you going to speak the language? We were scared. You never know the reaction of the people. At the same time the Canadians were scared about how we would react. It was a tough time for my children in my school.”
There has been no regrets because her children have grown up in a peaceful country, she said.
Suarez said she loves Canada which she considers her home.
“My youngest boy in Buenos Aires every single night had an asthma attack,” she said. “The first night we arrived here, he didn’t have any asthma attack. The emotional trauma the children suffered … can you imagine that you have to teach a five-year-old child to check the door before you go in the house or be careful when you walk on the street. Don’t walk on the edge of the sidewalk. Walk on the middle because the military were able to kidnap your child.”
Suarez and her husband ran a successful carpentry business until his death in 1985 and she ran it alone until 1990 before going back to Red Deer College to be certified to work with people with disabilities. In July, she retired from Catholic Social Services where she worked with immigrants and refugees for 25 years. She has been a board member and volunteer with Central Alberta Refugee Centre for more than 30 years. She is well known in the community for work with refugees and new immigrants.
She was a 2015 Women of Excellence Award winner, the Mayor’s Recognition Award in 2012 and a recipient of Stars of Alberta Volunteer Award in 2011.
Her four children and her many grand children live in Red Deer, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Suarez said her heart breaks when she thinks about the Syrian refugees and the friends that disappeared in Argentina. Her youngest daughter born in Canada is named after her good friend Yolanda who stayed with her husband in Argentina because the couple thought things would get better and they could return to Uruguay. Two months after Suarez left Argentina in December, her friends were picked up by the police. Yolanda, who was pregnant, had a baby boy. The child was adopted by a navy officer.
Suarez never heard from her friends again but recently she connected with the son. Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, thousands of people in Argentina “disappeared” and are believed have been killed by either guerrillas or state security. No official records existed for them.
“He says you were the last one to meet my parents,” she said. “A week before we left, they came to visit us. I don’t want to say goodbye. They said see you later, see you soon. After that I never saw them again.”
She wants Canada to boost its efforts and speed up the process for allowing more refugees into Canada. Red Deer takes in between 70 and 90 refugees every year. In the last few years, 30 have come from Syria.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com