Immigration has become an extremely sticky situation in the past few years especially. With numerous immigrants still seeking refuge in Canada daily, it can be hard for the Canadian government to decide which people should be here or not- especially when people are willing to lie on their applications to get into the country.
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One woman, whose name has been concealed to protect her identity, learned the results of lying the hard way last month after she lost her 3-year long battle to stay in Canada this week. That battle included resorting to hiding in a church for the past 8 months from the police.
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The woman in question was arrested by police last month after she left the church she had been hiding in in British Columbia. While police aren't actually restricted from going into places of worship to make an arrest, it's something they don't tend to do. As a result, it wasn't until she left the church on September 17th that the arrest was made, and she has been in the custody of CBSA ever since.
Since then a judge has found that the woman will need to be returned to her homeland of Cameroon, even with the woman's argument being that as a queer woman, she is in danger due to homosexuality being illegal there.
On the prosecution's side, they have a different interpretation of the woman's story, mainly because it's nearly identical to the one her sister used to get into the country with refugee protection as well.
@dailyviewbcAround 7 months prior to when the woman in question applied for protection, her half-sister's protection request was approved based on a story that was nearly the same. Both stories displayed similarities that were too close to be a coincidence according to the court. Leaving them to believe the sisters had submitted "modified versions of the same story."
One of the first red flags was the woman's insistence that she did not know her half-sister yet both her and her half-sister claimed on their application that they were raised by the same woman and both listed the same address as their home for their student visas. The judge also believed the similarities in how both girls claim they were outed were also too similar to be real.
@_ysk_photoBoth girls had claimed the same story that the Cameroonian police conducted a house raid of an ex-partner where they found intimate photos of the ex-partner with them. The police used these photos to blackmail their partner as well as their mother who called them to tell them the police were looking for them. Meaning it would not be safe for them to return home.
Ultimately, as a result, the judge on the case ruled that the woman's story was not credible and her sexual orientation claim was denied. Since it was a flat-out denial, the woman does have a chance to appeal the verdict but the last judge who looked at the case has noted publicly that with no new evidence coming to the table, it's most likely the woman will not be able to stay.
Source: Global News