Date of publication:
June 10, 2022 • 15 hours ago • 3 minutes reading Ashki Shkur, who was chair of the student council at Britannia High School, will enter UBC. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG
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From being banned from school in Kurdistan to a full scholarship to UBC, it was a wild and wonderful journey for Ashki Shkur.
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The 12th grader at Britannia Secondary in East Vancouver chose Point Gray Campus from competing universities and scholarships, embarking on a path that begins with studying medical biology, immunology and physiology, leading, she hopes, to one day become a surgeon for life. “This is a dream I never thought would be possible,” Shkur said. “We left our country mainly because of me, my education was threatened because I was no longer allowed in school and my dad said, ‘We can not let that happen.’ “My only dream at the time was to go back to school. When you think about where I came from, I didn’t even speak English, and now I’m going to UBC, it’s just… “ The UBC Scholarship for Academic and Community Excellence is worth $ 80,000 and covers tuition and accommodation.
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Shkur also won a Terry Fox Award ($ 29,000), a Community Leadership TD Scholarship ($ 70,000), a Beedie Luminaries Scholarship ($ 40,000) and, from Simon Fraser University, entry scholarships and a Uggla Family (covering tuition and accommodation ) if he had chosen the term Burnaby school over UBC. The Kurds are the majority in the Kurdistan region, which includes parts of northern Iraq – where Shukr and her family lived before fleeing to the United States in 2015 – Iran, Syria and Turkey. The Kurds have their own language and culture that differs from other people in these four countries. They applied for asylum in Canada in February 2016, but were returned because of something called the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, which stipulates that people entering Canada by land can not apply for asylum and will be returned to the US.
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“A safe country,” Shkur said, “so they sent us back to the United States.” Ashki Shkur, then 12, is being held by the RCMP Rafter crossing the US-Canada border with her parents and sister in Surrey in 2017. Photo by Ben Nelms / Reuters Because they had been deported, they were not allowed to enter Canada legally for another year. But since Donald Trump became president on January 20, 2017, he has quickly banned visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq. “We were very scared that we would be deported, so we said, ‘Oh my God, the year is almost over and we can go back to Canada.’ Only they did not wait 365 whole days. Almost, but not enough. “We did not ask anyone for permission, we just went through it illegally because we were told that if you go through it illegally, (Canada) will let you apply for asylum.” This was near the Peace Arch crossing, and the family of four was quickly apprehended by RCMP officers, who was recorded on camera by Ben Nelms, a Reuters photographer.
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This led to an interview with CTV, with the then 12-year-old Shkur translating for her parents, followed by overwhelming support from the community, even when the federal government issued deportation orders, which were eventually withdrawn following Shkur’s application for status. protection was approved. “As soon as I spoke English at all and was interviewed in Canada, I was so shocked by what was happening.” said Shkur. He was chairman of the student council this year. Participates in two non-profit organizations, Ripple Effect, which promotes awareness and empowerment of young people to take action on global issues such as the environment and humanitarian causes, and the Girls Can Talk Society, which promotes an inclusive and inclusive environment for girls to talk freely.
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“This second one was obviously driven by the fact that (in Kurdistan) I faced a lot of struggles mainly because I am a girl.” Together with her father, Ayub Nasralddin, her mom, Arazw Hama Ali, and her sister Hanasa, now 15, the Shkur family moved to Canada with only what they could carry in a backpack and plastic garbage bags. Little sister Niya, 3 years old, was born in Canada. Ayub was a construction inspector in Iraq, but once in North America he did everything he could to support his family – a delivery man, a landscape painter, things like that. “It’s difficult, but when you do not have many things and you come to a country like Canada where everyone is supportive, everything is in front of you and you can get everything if you work for it,” Shkur said. [email protected] twitter.com/gordmcintyre More news, fewer ads: Our in-depth journalism is possible thanks to the support of our subscribers. For just $ 3.50 a week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, the National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us with your registration today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.
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