Judge delays removal of Eritreans that deceived Canadian authorities

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An Eritrean family granted refugee status in Canada without telling immigration authorities they already had Swedish citizenship has convinced a Federal Court judge in Ottawa to delay their removal from Canada so the children can continue their schooling here, even though their parents came to court “without ‘clean hands’” due to their deception.

Solomon Yohannes Goitom, Eden Rezene and their two children were scheduled to be sent back to Sweden on Dec. 28 because although they had been granted refugee status in Canada, it later came to light that they actually had obtained Swedish citizenship.

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However, the family had applied to the court to defer their removal so their kids can continue studying in Canada.

“I am satisfied based on the particular circumstances of this case, taking into account the evidence provided by the eldest child, who will be graduating from middle school this year, and the evidence about the school year calendar in Sweden, that irreparable harm has been established because of the short-term best interests of the children,” Justice Lobat Sadrehashemi said in a Dec. 23 decision allowing the family to stay in Canada, at least temporarily.

Lawyers for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada argued that the family came to court “without ‘clean hands’ because the adult applicants deceived immigration authorities about their Swedish citizenship for many years.”

The family had asked that the Canada Border Services Agency “defer their removal until the children finish the school year,” but that was denied by the agency on Dec. 18.

They came to Canada in 2016 “and made refugee claims alleging persecution in Eritrea,” said the decision granting them a reprieve.

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They didn’t disclose the fact that they had Swedish citizenship and were granted refugee status.

“Later, (the immigration minister) learned that the applicants had Swedish citizenship and brought an application to vacate their refugee status before the Refugee Protection Division,” said the decision, which notes the family lost both their refugee and permanent resident status in Canada in 2022.

The couple had a third child here, “who is impacted by my decision because this child will leave Canada with his parents and siblings if the stay is denied,” Sadrehashemi said. The judge did not make any note of the third child’s citizenship, though babies born in Canada are almost always automatically Canadian citizens at birth.

Sometime after they lost their refugee status in Canada, the family applied for permanent residence “based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds” as well as a pre-removal risk assessment — a last-ditch bid to stay in Canada. “Both these applications were refused,” Sadrehashemi said.

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The family got their travel documents on Nov. 8, and 12 days later the CBSA told them to report for removal on Dec. 28.

The family had been working with CBSA to arrange travel documents for Sweden, but “there is a dispute between the parties about the applicants’ level of cooperation with their removal,” said the judge.

She exercised her discretion and provided the relief the family was seeking.

“There is no evidence that there has been misconduct related to CBSA’s efforts at removal (of the family) that are the subject of this stay motion. Further, the serious issue and irreparable harm being raised in this motion relate to the short-term best interests of the children, who had no part in the misconduct raised by the Minister. In these circumstances, I find the balance of convenience favours granting the motion and staying the applicants’ removal from Canada.”

The family’s reprieve could be short-lived.

Sadrehashemi’s stay will last until the family gets a final decision on their separate application for a judicial review of the “decision to refuse the deferral of their removal.”

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