Basel Al Rashdan wants to see a peaceful future for all children.
That’s the message the 12-year-old Charlottetown resident, who is originally from Syria, delivered to members of the United Nations and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this week.
Al Rashdan, his father Amjad and a member of the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada travelled to the UN Headquarters in New York to give a speech for World Children’s Day on Monday.
“It went really well,” said Al Rashdan, who made a request to the UN’s member states during the speech. “Leaders of the world need to stop war and focus on education. We need to educate as many children as we can. They are the future leaders, which is why our wish for every child is peace.”
Related: Syrian refugee in P.E.I. scheduled to address U.N. on World Children’s Day
Before the speech, Al Rashdan also received an unexpected call from Trudeau.
“I was like ‘you’re kidding.’ I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Trudeau wished him the best of luck.
“I’ve heard wonderful things about all your activities back in P.E.I. and I’m really excited about you adding onto the world stage,” said Trudeau, who asked Al Rashdan what he was looking forward to.
Al Rashdan was quick to respond.
“I’m looking forward to people to be fair to their children and give every child their rights and keep them safe and listen to them and understand them,” said Al Rashdan.
Trudeau seemed impressed with Al Rashdan and told the youngster he was representing children everywhere and that more voices like his are needed in the world.
“I’m extremely proud of you Basel,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau said he would like to meet Al Rashdan when he is in Charlottetown, which is where he’ll be this Thursday to deliver the 2017 Symons Medal Lecture, and also suggested the young Islander to come visit him in Ottawa.
Al Rashdan was born in Syria, with the war starting when he was six years old. He later moved to Jordan for three years before coming to Canada.
His family moved to P.E.I. in December 2015 and were among the first to arrive following the federal government’s promise of resettling Syrian refugees.
Since arriving in P.E.I., Al Rashdan has learned to speak English fluently and said he is proud to be Canadian.
During his trip to New York, his first time in the U.S., Al Rashdan got to see a bit of the city and said it reminded him of Damascus.
Upon returning to P.E.I. on Tuesday, Al Rashdan said his classmates and teachers said they were proud of him with Education Minister Jordan Brown also praising him in the legislature.
Al Rashdan also recalled a compliment given to him by one of the UN members following the address.
“They told me it was a great job and said ‘you could be prime minister someday.’”
