Refugee facts aim to dispel myths around new refugees

The PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada is taking a new approach to dispelling myths about refugees with a social media campaign featuring "refugee facts."

"On P.E.I. — as across Canada — there's been a lot of support for welcoming refugees, and there's also been a lot of outright racism, confusion, false information being shared about refugees," said Yvette Doucette, the association's information officer.

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Doucette said she got the idea from other social services and settlement agencies who have shared facts on their social media sites.

She put together a campaign of twelve facts to roll out daily, starting Tues. Feb. 2.

The facts are rolling out on social media, Doucette said, because that's where she's seen incorrect information being shared.

"Someone can make something up, copy something erroneous and thousands of people could share it and think it's a fact because it's in a box and it's got a pattern behind it," she said.

She said she's been careful to source her facts. The information came from agencies including the Canadian Council for Refugees, the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the Canadian government.

"These are all really credible sources and I double-checked and cross-checked and double-checked any piece of information that I found in, say, an online article," she said.

The facts aren't specific responses to misinformation the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada has seen, but a broader response to what Doucette has seen circulating.

She said the response so far has been fantastic, and the posts have been garnering likes and shares on both Facebook and Twitter.

"You're not going to change trolls' minds," she said. "But for anyone who hasn't made up their mind or isn't sure what to believe, if they read a fact like this shared by one of their friends on Facebook or on Twitter, then they might do their own research."