Missy Higgins Unveils Moving Song And Video About The Syrian Refugee Crisis

Folk household name Missy Higgins has unveiled a moving song — and the accompanying music video — for a track called Oh Canada, inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis and young Alan Kurdi, the small Syrian boy who washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea as he and his family attempted to flee to Canada.

Inspired by the heart-wrenching photos of Kurdi that made headlines all over the world, the clip for Oh Canada is animated and is hand-drawn by refugee and displaced small children from Damascus, Syria and Beirut, Lebanon, making the imagery all the more haunting. It was directed by award-winning director Natasha Pincus and animation director Nicholas Kallincos.

100% of the proceeds from the song will head to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, with Higgins providing a note about the song and video below.

"Like most people, the photo of little Alan Kurdi being carried out of the water shook me to my core. We often read about the tragic plight of refugees but I think that picture exposed us to the reality in such a raw way that the truth became inescapable. From where I sat in my comfortable living room nursing my newborn son, the tiny child in that wrenching image could have been my own little boy. I felt overwhelmed by a profound protective instinct for him and people like him.

"Alan died along with his little brother, his mother and many other Syrian people on that boat. The only survivor of the Kurdi family was Alan’s father, Abdullah. My heart wept for Abdullah - his loss was literally unimaginable.

"Writing songs has always been my way of dealing with strong feelings and this situation obviously stirred up a lot of emotions. So initially I started writing about it just to try and make some sense out of something so senseless."

Missy Higgins Unveils Moving Song And Video About The Syrian Refugee Crisis

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