Just over 24 hours before he was summoned to the airport to be sent back to Burkina Faso, Rufine Zongo learned on Thursday that his one-way ticket to fear had been cancelled. Victim of two forced marriages marked by violence, this beneficiary attendant now hopes to be able to stay in Canada under a humanitarian request.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Met at the premises of the Montreal organization Movement Against Rape and Incest (MCVI) on Thursday afternoon, Ms.me Zongo was all smiles behind his face covering.
“One more day! I am so happy ! »
It was nearly one to midnight. This Friday at 5 p.m., she was expected at Montreal-Trudeau airport to take the flight supposed to bring her back to her country of origin, which she had fled three years earlier. A little before 3 p.m. Thursday, an Immigration Canada officer called to tell her not to show up because the trip was canceled, without further details.
His lawyer, who was about to file a final application for a stay in the Federal Court, therefore tackled a more promising remedy.
“There is a window for filing an application based on humanitarian considerations. It can take from one to two weeks, but I will work in accelerated mode, given the precarious situation of Madame, “said Mr.e Murhula Jugauce Mweze in a telephone interview.
Inhuman treatment
According to information provided by MCVI, which supports Mme Zongo in her proceedings, the 38-year-old woman was forcibly married a first time at age 14 and, when her spouse died, a second time to the brother of the deceased.
I had been tied up, chained. I don’t want to be in a home where you can’t eat or drink and where you’re beaten like an animal!
Rufin Zongo
Not having obtained refugee status upon her arrival in Canada, in September 2019, she instructed a first lawyer to file a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) application as well as a humanitarian application.
The PRRA application was denied. As for the humanitarian request, it was never submitted, this first lawyer having “left the country leaving his case pending” despite the “large sum of money paid”, denounces MCVI. (The current lawyer, Mr.e Mweze, took over the file less than 15 days ago.)
Last week, M.me Zongo, who lives near the Lionel-Groulx metro station, knocked on the office of her federal deputy, the Liberal Marc Miller. Stopping the deportation proceedings was “the key” for Mr.me Zongo “can file a good request with adequate legal representation,” said the head of the constituency office. “We are so happy! My team looked at hundreds of documents in a few days,” Lisa Montgomery commented over the phone.
The office of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser had not responded to our request for comment at the time of this writing.
“I want to live a long time, I beg them to keep me,” Ms.me Zongo.
The heart at work
The private residence for seniors (RPA) Le Saint-Michel, where she is employed as a beneficiary attendant, hopes to see her again soon.
“She was always on her time and on her job. She is smiling, people have always appreciated her and so have I,” the receptionist, Louise Laurendeau, spontaneously pointed out to us. The employer, she said, provided letters for immigration officials.
Hired as a maintenance worker in February 2021, Ms.me Zongo then trained to become a beneficiary attendant. His most recent shift dates back to last weekend, in the night from Saturday to Sunday.
If they give me permission, I will go to work. I love my residents there so much, I even miss them very much!
Rufin Zongo
Mme Zongo being without status, his situation remains urgent, explains Mr.e Mueza. “As of tomorrow, we have to start on the humanitarian request. The minister can approve it quickly. »
In the office of MP Miller, it is hoped that it will now be possible to regularize his status. “I believe she will be an incredible citizen! She deserves a chance,” argued Ms.me Montgomery.