Nigerian University of Regina students Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Favour Amadi pose for a photo in the basement of a church where they have sought sanctuary to avoid deportation in Regina,
Photograph by: Michael Bell , Regina Leader-Post
See also: http://www.lamzat.com/2013/08/canada-set-to-deport-rivers-state.html
REGINA — Two University of Regina students from Nigeria who had sought sanctuary in the city for more than a year are voluntarily leaving the country after deciding their deportation case had been going on too long.
U of R president Vianne Timmons confirmed Friday that Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Favour Amadi hopped on a flight in Regina in the morning and are en route back to Nigeria. It’s not known if the Canadian Border Services Agency was involved as the young women left.
The two students had been studying at the U of R and each worked against off-campus for short period in the summer of 2011. When Ordu discovered that doing so was not allowed because of the types of visa she had to be in the country, she quit. Amadi was led away from her job in handcuffs and both were ordered out of the country.
On June 19, 2012 each sought sanctuary in a Regina church and moved between it and others until Friday — a 486-day span.
During that time, pleas were made to federal ministers of Citizenship and Immigration and responsible for CBSA to let the women stay but to no avail. Several rallies were held in Regina during that time to try to bring attention to the situation and politicians on both sides of government in Saskatchewan called for compassion from the federal government.
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Cam Broten decried the fact that the women had to leave.
“Canada should be a nation of compassion and Saskatchewan the province of opportunity,” he said in a statement.
“Forcing Victoria and Favour to return to Nigeria because of an honest mistake is an injustice, and a shameful embarrassment for the province.”
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The should come back home, God will give them new opportunity. it is strange that canada can be so wicked.
ReplyDeleteHow can a foreign student and young people as it were be treated like this? This is sad!! Again, it calls for caution and reading of the fine lines of your visa documents and immigration papers when you are outside your country of origin. If your visa says no work, then you have to keep to that or ask for a better status. Thank God, it is an honest mistake and not stealing or drug trafficking. I know they will be fine very soon and can still get better offers with better conditions.
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