Women in Siberian coal town beg Trudeau to let them come to Canada as environmental refugees
The pictures of the living conditions due to coal dust are mind boggling.
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Fed up residents of a polluted city in central Russia are making an emotional plea to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, begging to be admitted to Canada as environmental refugees.
In a video posted on YouTube over the weekend, dozens of women in Kiselyovsk, a city of 90,000 in Siberia, take turns reading emotional statements, explaining how coal dust from nearby mines and factories has blanketed their homes and made their lives unbearable.
"We want to openly appeal to the honourable prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau," a young woman says in the video, reading from a statement.
"Unbearable conditions for life have developed in Russia, in particular in Kuzbass," she continues, referring to the region where they live
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One of the organizers of the "move to Canada" appeal, Vitaly Sheshtakov, was quoted by the local newspaper as saying living conditions in Canada are similar to Siberia, only much cleaner.
"We chose Canada because the climate there is similar to our region. So that they [Russian authorities] wouldn't say that we just wanted to move to warm countries."
In their video, the residents, who identify themselves as mothers and grandmothers, say they are hardworking and can make a big contribution to Canada's economy, if given the chance.
"We can become useful to Canada, because in Russia we have simply been forgotten and we feel here as superfluous, useless people," one of the women says.
More
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-coal-environmental-refugees-trudeau-1.5169668