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A single Ottawa mother was granted refugee status this week, six months after her five-year-old triplets were barred from the initial immigration hearing as possible distractions to her testimony.
A member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada accepted the claim that Margaret Nakibuuka has “a well-grounded” fear of persecution if she returns to her native Uganda.
“I’m very happy,” she said Friday. “It was a tough battle. We went (to Montreal) three times. The second time, when the member (adjourned) the hearing, I thought I was going to die.”
She said the family has been living with anxiety for months.
“It’s a great relief to know we can live in a land where we are protected and don’t have to worry about a lot of things that other people take for granted. I have no intention of leaving Ottawa.”
The family has recently moved into a new home and she’s just started a new job in accounting. She hopes they will all be Canadian citizens soon.
Nakibuuka told board member Joanne Blanchard at a hearing in March that her husband’s influential family intended to subject her — a practising Christian — and the children to traditional tribal practices, including witchcraft, circumcision and rituals “based on” human sacrifice.
“The tribunal found that the principal claimant was a credible witness,” the ruling says.
“In February 2012, while 5 months pregnant, the claimant alleges that her mother in law informed her that her children would have to be circumcised. When the children turned 2 years of age, the threat was allegedly reiterated that she, along with her 3 children, would have to undergo circumcision, or the entire family would suffer poverty, death, shame and scorn.”
Things got worse. “In January 2015, the claimant’s mother in law allegedly withdrew all financial support to her and the children. Verbal and physical threats allegedly ensued and total control was maintained over them, as cameras in the house monitored their every move.”
Nakibuuka’s case drew national attention last December when she and lawyer Rezaur Rahman went public with a complaint against board member Maude Côté, who presided over the first hearing in Montreal in November. Côté had asked that the children, who were sitting in the room, not be present during the hearing as they might hamper her ability to testify freely.
The mother was shocked. Not only did the family leave Ottawa at 5 a.m. to attend the hearing in Montreal, but Nakibuuka was told in writing to bring the children. Nor did she have a last-minute, alternate plan to care for the three in a different city.
The hearing was eventually adjourned without a resolution. Shortly after, a complaint by the pair was lodged against Côté. It is still being investigated.
Nakibuuka had another hearing in February and a third on March 20, each time with her children present. Member Blanchard said the mother gave a credible explanation of why she fled Uganda, how she had no reliable authority to intervene in the case and has no prospect of safely returning there.
The hearing did not accept a refugee claim for the children, mainly because they hold U.S. citizenship and there was no concrete evidence they would be harmed if returned to the care of their father south of the border, where the family has business interests.
However, Rahman says this is a minor issue. He says the children will be allowed to remain with their mother in Canada as she applies for permanent resident status for everyone.
Nakibuuka and the children, Lexie, Ryan and Mia, arrived in Canada on Christmas Day in 2016, only weeks before the scheduled date for circumcisions.
When this newspaper first met with her, she was living in an apartment hotel, was working full-time and had the children in school.
The board responded to her case in December by saying it was taking steps to be more accommodating to families. Last fall, it instituted a new policy that does not require the attendance of children under 12 when their adult guardian is making a refugee claim, unless the presiding member requires them.
There were 207 claimants from Uganda before the federal board in 2017, with 77 claims being accepted and 53 denied.
She hopes this has been a learning experience for the board in dealing with single parents with young children. “I hope there is a lesson there and I hope the lesson has been learned.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
A member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada accepted the claim that Margaret Nakibuuka has “a well-grounded” fear of persecution if she returns to her native Uganda.
“I’m very happy,” she said Friday. “It was a tough battle. We went (to Montreal) three times. The second time, when the member (adjourned) the hearing, I thought I was going to die.”
She said the family has been living with anxiety for months.
“It’s a great relief to know we can live in a land where we are protected and don’t have to worry about a lot of things that other people take for granted. I have no intention of leaving Ottawa.”
The family has recently moved into a new home and she’s just started a new job in accounting. She hopes they will all be Canadian citizens soon.
Nakibuuka told board member Joanne Blanchard at a hearing in March that her husband’s influential family intended to subject her — a practising Christian — and the children to traditional tribal practices, including witchcraft, circumcision and rituals “based on” human sacrifice.
“The tribunal found that the principal claimant was a credible witness,” the ruling says.
“In February 2012, while 5 months pregnant, the claimant alleges that her mother in law informed her that her children would have to be circumcised. When the children turned 2 years of age, the threat was allegedly reiterated that she, along with her 3 children, would have to undergo circumcision, or the entire family would suffer poverty, death, shame and scorn.”
Things got worse. “In January 2015, the claimant’s mother in law allegedly withdrew all financial support to her and the children. Verbal and physical threats allegedly ensued and total control was maintained over them, as cameras in the house monitored their every move.”
Nakibuuka’s case drew national attention last December when she and lawyer Rezaur Rahman went public with a complaint against board member Maude Côté, who presided over the first hearing in Montreal in November. Côté had asked that the children, who were sitting in the room, not be present during the hearing as they might hamper her ability to testify freely.
The mother was shocked. Not only did the family leave Ottawa at 5 a.m. to attend the hearing in Montreal, but Nakibuuka was told in writing to bring the children. Nor did she have a last-minute, alternate plan to care for the three in a different city.
The hearing was eventually adjourned without a resolution. Shortly after, a complaint by the pair was lodged against Côté. It is still being investigated.
Nakibuuka had another hearing in February and a third on March 20, each time with her children present. Member Blanchard said the mother gave a credible explanation of why she fled Uganda, how she had no reliable authority to intervene in the case and has no prospect of safely returning there.
The hearing did not accept a refugee claim for the children, mainly because they hold U.S. citizenship and there was no concrete evidence they would be harmed if returned to the care of their father south of the border, where the family has business interests.
However, Rahman says this is a minor issue. He says the children will be allowed to remain with their mother in Canada as she applies for permanent resident status for everyone.
Nakibuuka and the children, Lexie, Ryan and Mia, arrived in Canada on Christmas Day in 2016, only weeks before the scheduled date for circumcisions.
When this newspaper first met with her, she was living in an apartment hotel, was working full-time and had the children in school.
The board responded to her case in December by saying it was taking steps to be more accommodating to families. Last fall, it instituted a new policy that does not require the attendance of children under 12 when their adult guardian is making a refugee claim, unless the presiding member requires them.
There were 207 claimants from Uganda before the federal board in 2017, with 77 claims being accepted and 53 denied.
She hopes this has been a learning experience for the board in dealing with single parents with young children. “I hope there is a lesson there and I hope the lesson has been learned.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
