Status of migrant who worked in Quebec long-term care homes in jeopardy

Mamadou Konaté, who has lived in Quebec for six years and whose refugee claim process has been marred by setbacks, fears there may no longer be legal recourse to prevent him from being deported, after a crushing federal court judgment.

In the time Konaté has spent in the province, since February 2016, he has felled trees for Hydro-Québec, sorted trash in waste management centres and cleaned the rooms of COVID-positive patients at long-term care homes.

Konaté fled civil war in his home country Ivory Coast and bounced between several refugee camps in neighbouring countries before landing in Canada six years ago.

"It's unfair. I don't understand anything anymore. I've been here for six years. I've worked the whole time. I just got a new work permit. I don't know what I did wrong," Konaté said over the phone Sunday evening.

When Konaté arrived in Canada, his refugee claim was rejected under a section of the federal Immigration Act, which states that anyone who participated in the overthrowing of a government cannot seek residency in Canada.

"It's basically the clause under which we would make Nelson Mandela inadmissible," immigration lawyer Stewart Istvanffy told CBC last year.

Istvanffy, who represents Konaté, filed a request for the federal government to waive his inadmissibility, as well as a writ to try to force the government to make a decision quickly in his case due to extensive delays. 

Because Konaté's refugee claim was rejected, he could be deported before the government rules on his admissibility.

The writ was a bid by Istvanffy for a decision to be made before that could happen, but on June 8 Justice Yvan Roy dismissed the request, saying the lawyer and Konaté did not provide enough reason about why his case should be heard before others. 

Roy also said Konaté had made confusing statements in the past about whether he had been forced to join a movement to overthrow former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo or not. 

Soon after the decision, Konaté received a notice calling for him to show up at the federal immigration offices in downtown Montreal for 10:30 a.m. Monday on a sheet of yellow paper Konaté said he recognized to mean he would be receiving a deportation notice.

"We're really worried because right now it doesn't seem like there is anything, legally, that could block his deportation," said his friend Amelia Orellana, who has helped organize a rally outside the immigration office on Saint-Antoine Street at 9:45 a.m. before his appointment Monday. 

"It could be extremely dangerous for him to return to Ivory Coast," she added. 

Istvanffy, Konaté's lawyer, did not return CBC's calls requesting an interview, but is expected to be present at the protest.