A family in Quebec has finally had their application to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds accepted, after facing deportation from Canadaat least four different times since last year.

Photo from CBC

During the first three times there were issues at the airport, misplaced travel documents and one of the family members fell ill, while the fourth time the federal government temporarily halted their deportation.

Family’s refugee claim denied

Six years ago, the Mansare family came to Canada from Guinea as refugees, fleeing because their teenaged daughters would be forced into marriage as well as female genital mutilation – a common practice in Guinea.

Their initial refugee claim was denied. Their lawyer made a mistake on their subsequent application to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, so Citizenship and Immigration Canada never got that application. The family had a second lawyer prepare a humanitarian and compassionate grounds application, which was accepted. However, their humanitarian and compassionate grounds application was not only accepted based on the family’s initial claim about forced marriage and genital mutilation, it was also based on the fact that one of the daughters has a hypothyroid condition that would not be able to be treated in their home country of Guinea.

For now, the family has been granted temporary resident status and will eventually receive their permanent resident status.

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