Southampton resident, who recently received the King Charles III Coronation Medal, only one of 30,000 in Canada, was also the recipient of the Certificate of Recognition from the Town of Saugeen Shores on March 10th.
“We are here to thank Laura Robinson for her work as part of a team that helped Afghan women come to Canada following the Taliban takeover of Kabul,” said Mayor Luke Charbonneau, as he presented the Certificate of Recognition to Robinson. “As a result of her efforts, several Afghans and their families have been able to settle in Canada and other countries.”
In response, Robinson said, “I want to especially thank Councillor Cheryl Grace and her husband Mike as they and others stepped up (to transport) Afghan refugees to bring them to this community. I felt these refugees needed to be brought here to experience the healing of Lake Huron, the beach and this community, as they had been through immense trauma and this was a place they could start to heal in.”
Robinson added that there had been an “immense show of love” by the CFUW (Confederation of University Women) and the SRA (Southampton Residents Association) offering cottages, food and money. “Love is action and that’s what we saw.”
According to Robinson, almost all the women who had been taken in are lawyers, doctors and journalists who were on a ‘death list’ for speaking out against the Taliban.
She said that the CFUW across Canada also stepped up to take in refugee women fleeing Afghanistan.
“This is a giant step for Canada,” said Robinson, “to have these wonderful human beings with us and, as of today, there are still 240 women whose scholarships have immediately ended thanks to Elon Musk’s cuts and who will be sent back to Afghanistan if there isn’t an international intervention. This is being worked on right now.”
The Saugeen Shores Certificate of Recognition presented by Mayor Luke Charbonneau follows the King Charles III Coronation Medal that was presented to Robinson on February 19th in Toronto.
