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 Organisation of Windsor (ACOW), a group that staged a
protest on Friday outside the office of Brian Masse, Windsor West NDP
MP.
President of the ACOW, Claude Saizonou, was quoted as saying his group
gathered outside Masse’s office because “we’ve been through this kind
of situation so many times.”
“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.
