This Canadian immigrant says he was traumatized by five years of separation from his family. He has launched a lawsuit against the government
The Toronto Star reports today on our new class action, Ndayiragije v. Canada. This proposed class action has been brought against the Government of Canada on behalf of refugee families who have endured years of parent-child separation as a result of actions by the Canadian government. The basis for the class action is explained here.
The Toronto Star spoke to Louis Century about the case:
Louis Century, a co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said the importance of family reunification is enshrined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The law, enacted in 2001, has the objective of supporting “the self-sufficiency and the social and economic well-being of refugees by facilitating reunification with their family members in Canada.”
“Tragically, the problem of prolonged refugee parent-child separation has only gotten worse with the passage of time,” Century told the Star. “Canada is actively undermining the objective of its own law by imposing parent-child separation times of 50 months on average, subjecting refugee families to unimaginable state-imposed suffering.”
Earlier in November, Ottawa proposed a one-time measure to grant permanent residence to 115,000 protected persons “in Canada” in the next two years, it remains unclear if the initiative will address the children who are separated from their parents, which is the focus of the lawsuit. “We need a permanent solution to the problem, not a stopgap measure,” said Century.