Former child refugee from Somalia facing unfair deportation: advocates
Posted August 20, 2019 4:00 am.
HALIFAX — Refugee advocates are launching a last-minute appeal for an Edmonton man facing deportation to Somalia this week, saying the case of the former child refugee is similar to that of a Nova Scotia man who was allowed to stay in Canada.
Supporters in Nova Scotia, who are expected to hold a news conference today, say 34-year-old Abdilahi Elmi fled Somalia as a child and was later taken into foster care in Ontario.
However, they say the Ontario government failed to fill out paperwork that would have granted him permanent residency.
Elmi has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault charges, which is why he is facing deportation as a non-citizen.
Activists in Nova Scotia say the federal government should review the case because Elmi’s circumstances are similar to those of Abdoul Abdi, who was allowed to stay in Canada last month after a Federal Court judge set aside a decision to refer Abdi’s case to a deportation hearing.
In a July 13 decision, Justice Ann Marie McDonald said a delegate of the public safety minister failed to consider the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in arriving at her decision to refer the case to a deportation hearing.
The Canadian Press
