Peel man’s wife may be sent to Syria
Ottawa native asks feds to intervene with Riyadh over woman’s deportation
“I need Canada to stand with me, not against me during this situation.” MOUHAMED MIDANI
Mouhamed Midani is terrified at the thought his Syrian wife is about to be deported to the very country from which millions of people are now fleeing.
When the Mississauga man went to a Saudi Arabian court on Sept. 1 with his new wife, Hadil Aljandali, all he wanted was to bring home a marriage certificate so he could get her to safety in Canada.
Instead, Aljandali, and her family who left Syria in 2012 while on a 30-day Hajj visa to Jeddah, were immediately arrested by Saudi authorities because they had overstayed their welcome and were deemed illegal in the kingdom.
They are due to be deported to Syria on Tuesday.
A frantic Midani, who was born in Ottawa to Syrian parents, contacted Canadian embassy officials in Riyadh for help, but was told there’s nothing Canada could do about it.
“I need Canada to stand with me, not against me during this situation,” Midani, 25, said in a phone interview from Jeddah.
Midani, who is pursuing a master’s degree in sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University and runs a refrigeration business, met Aljandali years ago during a visit to Syria with his family. They were married in May.
“We don’t need any government assistance for our loved ones,” he said. “All we are asking Canada to do is just to open the doors for these people in crisis. We can help get them jobs and support them. But they need to be brought to safety now.”
Midani’s sentiment was echoed by members of Canada’s 41,000-strong Syrian community and advocacy groups who say all it takes is Ottawa’s political will to give a helping hand. More than four million people have fled war-torn Syria since the conflict erupted in 2011.
“We are not going to cost the Canadian government a cent. We can afford to sponsor our loved ones to Canada and pay for all of them,” said Hanna Al-Khoulani, who has been waiting to bring her nephew, now in refuge in Ivory Coast, to Canada under a private sponsorship since April 2014.
“I have family in Turkey, Lebanon and Germany. We don’t want more Syrians to die on the road or be raped on the way to safety,” added Al-Khoulani, a Mississauga real estate agent, whose two brothers in Canada — a builder and an electrician — are both happy to offer jobs to those seeking refuge.
On Thursday, Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers all called on the government to immediately issue temporary residence permits for Syrian refugees with family in Canada.
“The lengthy multi-year processing delays for family sponsorships are unacceptable and especially brutal for Syrian refugees facing dangerous conditions in Syria and neighbouring countries,” said Lorne Waldman of the refugee lawyers’ group.
Waldman said the security concern raised by the Conservative government is baloney because Canada can easy conduct security screenings in under 60 days as in the case currently with refugee claimants inside the country.
It takes Ottawa less than six months to bring in a skilled immigrant and same quick processing is doable for the Syrians, noted Loly Rico, president of the refugee council. “The war we have now is with the federal government,” she said.
Lina Sallat came to Canada last October from Syria via Lebanon, Turkey and the United States. She and her son, Zackaria, 3, were granted asylum in Canada in May.
It is taking her at least two years to get her permanent resident status before she can reunite with her husband, Moutasem Jahjah, and older son, Hamza, who are stranded in Istanbul.
In August, they applied unsuccessfully for a visitor’s visa to Canada while their permanent residency is being processed.
“I just want to be able to touch my husband and son, and feel them. It is just inhumane and cruel for Canada to do nothing but keep my family apart,” Sallat said through tears.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada did not respond to the Star’s request for comments.