Lawrence Hill in Windsor, launching his new novel on refugees
Author Lawrence Hill is in Windsor launching his latest book The Illegal as part of BookFest Windsor.
Though the idea for the book has been germinating for almost 30 years and took him five years to write, he says its topic about refugees parallels the plight of those fleeing Syria and Iraq.
"We're witnessing the world's largest refugee crisis since the Second World War," he told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive host Bob Steele.
"It's at our peril, our own humanitarian and moral peril if we fail to live up to our obligations to people around the world. It's an issue that's profoundly important," he said.
The Illegal revolves around Keita Ali, a marathon runner forced to flee his homeland when his father becomes a political prisoner.
Hill said the story is inspired by his sister's family. She fell in love with a Sudanese refugee while living in West Berlin and spent time with that community there.
Many of them were illegal immigrants without papers. They needed to deal with the situation of not being able to live in their homes -- but not being welcomed in Germany either.
He said society should not abandon the people now trying to escape violence and make a better life for themselves.
"We're all connected," he said. "When millions of people are fleeing violence, genocide, hatred, war and possibly murder, we have to think about their humanity and do something about it."