Is Canada Really so Wonderful for Diversity?

Recently, I came across a news article in the Toronto Star that told the sad tale of a torture victim, Adel Benhmuda. Canadian officials in court have been refusing to led Adel and his family, made up of his wife and four sons, return to Canada. It seems to me that the courts are taking a very neo-conservative or neo-liberal approach to dealing with the welfare of the family and their refugee status.

In 2008, Canada had refused Adel's application for refugee status and had him and his family deported to Libya. Unfortunately, Libya was then under the control of Moammer Gadhafi. Benhmuda was put in jail for six months at different times. In jail, Adel describes the way he was mistreated. He says the guards frequently “bound his bare feet, strung him up in the air and beat his soles with batons and electrical wires (Contenta, Toronto Star).” To escape this torture, the Benhmuda family escaped to the island of Malta. There they lived for most of year in a shipping container before finally being given refugee status for Malta. Then, the UN requested that Canada take them as refugees. 

When courts in Canada in 2011 looked at, and refused, the case once again, it was discovered that the rejection was based on false information.

For one thing, it was believed that the Benhmuda family stayed in Canada for eight years, while waiting for refugee status, while exploiting the generosity of the Canadian government. Secondly, the courts stated that Adel should not even be getting this chance at another look at their case because he had already exhausted his supply of appeals in the eight years they spent in Canada, waiting. Thirdly, the court states that, since the family already had refugee status in Malta, there was really no reason for them to be merely looking about for a nicer place to get status. Finally, the court rejection statement clearly states: “It is likely that this family will be in need of social assistance and other social services" (Contenta, Toronto Star).

Adel Benhmuda and his family (Bernard Weil, Toronto Star).

All of these ground for refusal are based on misinformation. The idea that they had used up all their appeals was completely false and made up. To combat the first and last accusations, it was brought forward that Adel had actually worked two jobs while he lived in Canada. In addition, in his application for his family's return to Canada, there was a letter from his employer at an optical lab that guaranteed him a job upon his return. 

 

Just the fact that the Canadian courts did not even mention the way Adel Benhmuda was treated in Libya, his imprisonment and torture, is ridiculous and embarrassing. 

Also, it is not as if just anyone asked Canada to reconsider the Benhmuda case. It was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and they had good reason to suggest that the Benhmuda family try to resettle in Canada. Malta is not some paradise that everyone can feel warm and welcome in. In fact, it is brimming with refugees from Africa. It has no system to help refugees settle in, and there are major problems caused by racism. It is not and environment suitable to raise four sons in.

Due to the fact that I had never learned much about Malta, and I was not aware that it was a popular destination for refugees, I decided to look into it a little more.

In a journal called “Small Frontier Island: Malta and the Challenge of Irregular Immigration,” the integration policy of Malta is outlined. Most of what Malta has for a policy for immigrants is that they are often detained in order to separate them from the general population to protect them. The only policy Malta has in place to help integrate immigrants and refugees are some rudimentary English courses. Malta is also known for being very unreceptive towards newcomers, and the immigrants are not participating well in Maltese society (Lutterbeck, 137-140).

Also, as irregular immigration has grown in Malta, so too have anti-immigration movements. Recently, there has been quite a rise in violence against immigrants. Even more than direct acts against immigrants themselves are crimes against organization designed to help these newcomers, like the Jesuit Refugee Service in Malta (Lutterbeck, 140-142). 

These facts make me very sad, and almost embarrassed of the way that Canada has treated this family. I understand that this is only one article on the matter, and that I need some further education, but still. This neo-liberal or neo-conserrvative approach seems to imply that the social welfare system is unnecessary. Clearly, this family really needed help from the government to give them refugee status and opportunities, not just welfare.I hope that Canada takes a closer look at each one of these cases, not just as another number to deport to make some other country's problem, but as individual people that matter. Individual people with their own pasts, stories and skills. Perhaps then Canada can boast of our diversity and welcoming nature we claim to have now. 

- Selina

References

Lutterbeck, D. (2009). Small Frontier Island: Malta and the Challenge of Irregular Immigration. (pp. 137-142). Mediterranean Quarterly. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from http://mq.dukejournals.org/content/20/1/119.full.pdf+html

Map of Malta. (n.d.). Lonely Planet Travel Guides and Travel Information. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/malta/

Contenta, S. (2012, October 22). ‘Biased’ immigration officials kept Libyan torture victim from returning to Canada - thestar.com. thestar.com. Retrieved October 25, 2012