Seeking Asylum: Building a Shareable World

The author of the bestselling We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada (LLP 2022)

Human migration and the right to seek asylum from harm have been constants throughout the history of human existence. But only recently has Canada been forced to confront a global displacement crisis that much of the rest of the planet has long been dealing with. SEEKING ASYLUM is a plea for empathy. A way of rethinking and reframing the conversation to emphasize both our common humanity and our moral and legal obligations to one another. The author of the bestselling essay, We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada (LLP 2022), Toula Drimonis traces the history of sanctuary, examines myths about refugees and migrants, and interviews with migration experts, immigration lawyers, refugees, and people working on the ground to provide a nuanced look at the asylum process. One that centres people.

"As the daughter and granddaughter of refugees, as an immigrant myself, I welcome Toula Drimonis's book. SEEKING ASYLUM demystifies the many false beliefs surrounding refugees in Quebec, in Canada and around the world. As climate change will make large areas of our Earth less and less hospitable to human life, we must expect a great wave of migration towards those countries that will still enjoy a more temperate climate. This will be a matter of life and death for millions of people. It is imperative we find ways to share resources, welcome the stranger among us, and hold onto our common humanity."--Pepita G. Capriolo, immigrant and retired judge

Literary Nonfiction. Essay.

The author of the 2022 bestseller We, the Others, Toula Drimonis is a Montreal-based opinion columnist, writer and news producer. A former news director for TC Media, she has reported and written on politics, social justice, and women's issues for national and international publications. She has worked in television, radio, and print in all three of her languages, and has appeared on TV as both panelist and contributor to English and French-language current-affairs and cultural news shows.