Roma family to be deported to Hungary
Mom, daughter seeking reprieve on humanitarian grounds
A five year-long bureaucratic battle to stay in Canada ended Thursday for Gilda, 17, and her mother Katalin Lakatos, with the news that they will be deported back to Hungary on Aug. 11.
The Lakatos family has been in Canada since 2011, having fled what they claim is systematic and widespread racism against the Roma people in Europe. They were to be deported in May, but the federal immigration minister granted them a temporary permanent residence for two months due to “exceptional circumstances.”
“We thought that this (temporary permit) was so the government could study the humanitarian claim,” said Dafina Savic, executive director of Romanipe Montreal, a non-profit group that fights against Roma discrimination. The Lakatos family filed a claim for permanent residence on humanitarian grounds in 2015, but has yet to hear the result.
“The two months that was given to the family was ... useless because it just left them in a legal limbo thinking that maybe they were going to get answers for the (humanitarian application),” Savic said. “But in reality, they will be facing the deportation they had to face two months ago.”
Gilda Lakatos was distraught coming out of the hearing, expressing her frustration with the process that will see her sent back to Hungary.
“I don’t understand. Last time they stopped the deportation for two months, and now they’re still going to deport me,” said Gilda. “I feel terrible. I don’t know what else to do, and I’m so tired.”
She added that the high school education she received in Canada over the past five years will likely not be recognized in Hungary, leaving her to feel as if she’s “lost all five years.”
“There, I won’t be able to have a normal life like here,” she said. “I can’t study, I can’t work, I can’t have friends. I can’t do anything.”
Savic said they will ask the government to consider the humanitarian application before the deportation date. If it is approved, then not only will Gilda and Katalin be allowed to stay, but Gilda’s brother and father will be allowed to return to Canada. They were deported in March.
“We’re asking the Canadian government to demonstrate its willingness to reprieve the discriminatory policies against Roma introduced under the previous government, where Roma were targeted as bogus refugees, by granting this family permanent residence under humanitarian grounds,” Savic said.
Supporters of the Lakatos family gathered outside the immigration offices where their hearing took place.
One man, who was Roma and asked not to be identified due to fear of reprisals, said he had no words to describe the disappointment he felt.
“This is not justice. This is not the Canada that I know,” he said. “In this world, to be Roma is to be a crime. If Canada — liberal Canada — can’t open its eyes and recognize us as people, there’s nothing (we) can do.”
He said his parents are still scared to tell anyone they’re Roma. When asked, he said they tell people they’re Greek.
“That’s just a product of extreme (anti-Roma racism) and just not feeling as much like a person as other people,” he said. “If (the Lakatos family) can’t achieve equality in Hungary, they have to get out before someone gets killed.”
Freda Guttman, one of the supporters who waited outside for the Lakatos family, said she had expected better from the new federal government.
“Harper’s policies about refugees … were severe and much-hated by many Canadians. And I think a lot of people had high hopes the Trudeau government would be better,” said Guttman. “(But) it doesn’t seem to be any easier for refugees who are in need to be able to live in Canada.”
“It’s well-known they are persecuted where they come from,” she added. “What else do you need to know? Canada should welcome people like that.”
There, I won’t be able to have a normal life like here. I can’t study, I can’t work, I can’t have friends. I can’t do anything.