A Nigerian family is currently
facing deportation after being denied refugee status by the Canadian
government.
According to CBC, the family of
five was denied refugee status on Thursday and was told to leave the country by
3 pm on Friday.
Rasheedat Bakare, her husband,
Afeez, son, Faaiq and daughter, Faiqah reportedly fled Nigeria and arrived in
Canada in 2017. The family’s youngest daughter Farhana was born in Canada in
2018.
The family of five is calling on
the Canadian government to provide any assistance possible to avoid returning
home out of fear that two young girls — with another on the way — will be
subjected to female genital mutilation in Nigeria.
“My children’s life, my husband’s
life is at risk,” said Rasheedat.
“We ran away because they wanted
to circumcise my baby girl — the one I brought from Africa. When I got to
Canada, I had another baby girl. Currently, I’m pregnant with another baby
girl. Now [I’ll have] three baby girls — [and all of their lives are] going to
be at risk.”
Rasheeda, who is said to be five
months pregnant, reportedly collapsed on Friday afternoon and was rushed to the
hospital.
The development made the Canadian
government issue a temporary delay on the deportation order.
Her husband said he’s not sure
when he and his family will be required to leave.
“I don’t want my life and my
family to be in danger. My wife is in a state where she is restless, she cannot
do anything,” he said.
The family’s case reportedly
caught the attention of the African Community Organization of Windsor (ACOW), a
group that staged a protest on Friday outside the office of Brian Masse,
Windsor West NDP MP.
Claude Saizonou, president of the
ACOW, was quoted as saying his group gathered outside Masse’s office because
“we’ve been through this kind of situation so many time.”
“We never react. We never say
anything,” he was quoted to have said.
“And we just have [had] enough of
it. We just want to stand up and say ‘If we don’t do it, nobody would do it for
us.’ And this family has to stay today.”
Reacting, Masse described the
federal government’s treatment of the family as “heavy-handed”, adding that it
was even logistically difficult for the family to comply with the deportation
order in the first place because of how little time was given.
He also pointed out that Farhana,
who was born in Canada in 2018, is a naturalized citizen, which further
complicates the situation.
“[There are] very significant
issues related to health, personal safety and just the capability financially
of being able to [leave the country],” Masse said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com