Refugee family facing deportation to Iran waiting for resettlement to Winnipeg as application stuck for months
CBC
After years living as refugees — hiding their Christian faith, unable to legally work and confined to a small Turkish town — Leyla Shahsavar says their uncle and his family were given a glimmer of hope like no other before to build a new life, in Winnipeg.
That was after the Canadian government approved a non-for-profit's request in 2024 to sponsor their resettlement to Manitoba.
"They started dreaming again … what kind of high school were they going to find for the kids to go to? That was a very happy moment," Shahsavar told CBC News.
But the family of four has not arrived in Canada yet. Their immigration process has now been stuck for almost two years. Shahsavar said the family faces the possibility of being deported to Iran, their home country, where they fled religious persecution.
"This delay is putting their life in danger," Shahsavar said.
Shahsavar's uncle was arrested in Iran in 2014 after he and his family converted to Christianity from Islam. He was released from prison, and shortly after, his wife and two daughters left with him to Turkey, where they were given refugee status.
The family applied to come to Canada through a program allowing registered organizations to privately sponsor a set number of refugees annually.
Hospitality House Refugee Ministry Inc., a Winnipeg non-for-profit organization, took their case after another application with the group fell through and space became available.
"This is a family in trouble," Elodie Furaha, the Hospitality House resettlement co-ordinator working with the family, told CBC News. "You see how long they have been waiting with no hope."
Their application was submitted, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada approved the sponsorship in July 2024, Furaha said. The federal government sent their case to their Ankara office for the completion of a medical checkup, collection of biometrics and an interview needed to grant them official status in Canada.
The family has not heard back from the federal department in the 20 months since the file was sent, Furaha said.
"They saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but where is the light for them right now?" she said.
Shahsavar said the family's residence permit associated with their refugee status in Turkey was set to expire earlier in March. Their uncle went to renew it but was told the government was not going to extend it, and he was arrested, Shahsavar said.
Without the permit, the family is at risk of being deported to Iran, where they can face imprisonment or even death.
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