Asylum seeker in Toronto sues federal government over his five-year confinement
Abdirahmaan Warssama (54) was held in two maximum detention facilities between 2010 and 2015, once in Toronto and later in Lindsay, Ontario.
He had undergone 70 detention reviews over a span of five years but every time he was sent back to jail with the suspicion that he would escape and not return for deportation to Somalia.
It was in the latest development, Warssama, has been released by a federal court judge, who has asked Ottawa to explore other ways to deport Warssama to Somalia.
Warssama's statement against the federal government reads: "The sole purpose of his detention was to facilitate his removal from Canada to Somalia. Yet for the totality of his detention, removal to Somalia was never attempted."
"Despite the fact (that) he suffered from mental health issues, his detention was solely administrative not punitive, and he was not considered a danger to the public, yet at all material times, Warssama was detained in a maximum-security prison,” the statement added.
The Attorney General of Canada, who is the defendant in the case filed by Warssama, refused to make any comment since the matter is in the court.
Warssama, who came to Canada in 1989, was allowed to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds.
Warssama has alleged that during his imprisonment, he was heckled and had to bear humiliating experiences like strip search, denial of warm clothes and health care, and physical assaults.
His lawyer, Subodh Bharati, said as per the policies of Canada Border Services Agency, one can only be deported from Canada to Somalia when the person voluntarily agrees to.
"He is not the same person he used to. He is angry and upset . . . He still can’t sleep properly. When he is outside, he feels people are following him,” Bharati was quoted by the Star.
"The Immigration and Refugee Board ignored evidence and used detention as a means to punish the plaintiff for not signing what it knew or ought to have known was a false statutory declaration,” the lawsuit said.
"The infringement of (Warssama’s) liberty became arbitrary and contrary to the principle of fundamental justice that prohibits limitations that are not related to the legislation’s purpose," it added.
(Reporting by Suman Das)
Image: Youtube/Creative Commons
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