Refugee Sandwich: Stories of Exile and Asylum

by Peter Showler

Showler uses satire to expose the prejudices, myopia, ignorance, provincialism, and lack of sensitivity that mark the decisions of officials. Refugee Sandwich attacks the patronage-based system of appointment and re-appointment and its sometimes tragic consequences, revealing the wide gulf between legal ideal and legal fact. Against a historical analysis of human rights abuses from a dozen countries, the author offers a sympathetic rendering of the predicament of the refugee claimant as well as a critical look at some of the more common devices and abusive strategies employed by fraudulent claimants.

Genres: Fiction

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2006

Reviews

[Zoe Balkan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my class about refugees and thought it was really great. It focused on the inner workings of refugee adjudications but told it in an entertaining way with stories from refugee claimants, adjudicators, and other people involved in the process. It was enlightening and I would recommend it to anyone, though it was hard to find in actual book form and I ended up using a pdf that was online.

[alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

for class

[Anna Kathryn Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

Read for a class but it was incredibly interesting. Many typos and the writing with not that great but the content was really impactful.

Finally read a book about Canada

[Dana Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's no surprise that Peter, former head of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), finds all the right pieces to tell this story: the refugee, the decision-maker, the lawyer, the translator, and more. The surprising bit is his plain language, and ability to slip his reader into the story. Only a mix of storyteller and legal scholar could create these vignettes, brilliant in their insight and empathy. For anyone who loves a good story ... the bonus is a portrait of Canada's inland refugee system. A system cracked with moral, legal, and bureaucratic dilemmas for all involved.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories weren't perfectly written, but I think they served their purpose fairly well. They presented a wide variety of viewpoints and got me thinking about the Canadian refugee system, which isn't something I knew much about. I'm glad I read this.

[Michèle Dextras · Rating 3 out of 5]

very good and believable stories