Hefty Criminal Convictions Can Lead to Deportation from Canada

Canada Can’t Deport Criminal Because Iran Won’t Take Him Back

A very interesting article was published on the National Post website this week, detailing the case of Ashkan Forsat, 26, originally from Iran.

Photo from the National Post

Forsat arrived in Canada when he was 10 years as a refugee with his family, who became permanent residents. But as he got older, he began breaking the law and is currently being held at a detention centre in Quebec after assaulting a woman and breaking into her home after being released from jail.

Forsat has a long sheet of criminal convictions, including for armed robbery. The Canadian government placed him in a place to Tehran, Iran, in 2004 but Iran sent the plane back. Iran continues to refuse to accept Forsat, and Canada doesn’t know why.

Criminal charges can lead to deportation from Canada

In most cases, someone who is a permanent resident of Canada and not a Canadian citizen that has committed a crime may be deported to their native country. But this particular case has the government of Canada unsure what to do, as it seems that Forsat is undeportable. Particularly so, considering that in the fall of last year Canada severed diplomatic ties to the country.

Since the attempted deportation in 2004, Forsat has been charged in seven more cases, one in which he shot at a man and grazed his ear. He as been determined to be at a high risk of reoffending in violent crimes.