A rejected asylum seeker and threatened with deportation on September 30 implores the Quebec and Canadian authorities to take his “life into consideration”. Because if he has to return to Côte d’Ivoire, his country of origin, his life could be seriously threatened.
Posted at 9:01 a.m.
“Anything could happen to me. I don’t know what awaits me there, but I know it won’t be good for me. It does not smell good. I certainly fear for my life, ”says Mamadou Konaté, in an interview with The Press.
Originally from Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Konaté moved to Quebec in 2016 to flee the civil war. During the pandemic, he worked as a housekeeper in the red zone in three CHSLDs, including one where he contracted COVID-19. In September 2020, the 41-year-old man voluntarily surrendered to the Canada Border Services Agency to regularize his status. His asylum application was then rejected and he was arrested on the spot.
The reason was that in the early 2000s, when Ivory Coast was on the brink of civil war, Mr. Konaté became involved with a rebel group that sought to overthrow the government.
“So stressful”
It was in early September that the decision of the federal government fell: the former “guardian angel”, who is now a maintenance worker at Concordia University, will have to leave the country in a little over two weeks. , September 30. “However, I did everything that we should do in society, to have my place in Quebec. I work like everyone else, I contribute. I made friends, a network. And I have not committed any crime, ”slips Mr. Konaté, asking the authorities to review their decision.
“It’s all really affecting my mental health. It’s so stressful. And that makes me very tired. I’m even starting to feel sick. The government must take my life into consideration,” says Mamadou Konaté.
Today, the main interested party openly displays his support for Guillaume Soro, the former Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire who has been in political exile since he announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2020. “Let’s say that the current regime in Côte d’Ivoire is not very understanding with people who support the opposition. There are therefore significant risks to Mamadou’s return. He would be in danger of arrest, detention and torture”, pleads his lawyer, Mr.e Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
The lawyer, who specializes in immigration, also claims to have “drawn a line” between Mr. Konaté’s file and his involvement with Québec solidaire, with which he is running in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne this year. “I did all of this in two separate ways. It’s a question of ethics for me, ”he says, recalling however that the solidarity workers have supported his client on many occasions in the past.
Three new requests
Me Cliche-Rivard, who took over the file a few weeks ago, claims to have submitted three new requests to the authorities in the Mamadou Konaté file. “The first was a request for a risk review of his dismissal. It has not been done for four years, since 2018. However, the situation has changed since that time in Côte d’Ivoire. Canada cannot send someone back to torture,” he argues.
“We have also made a new request for a temporary residence permit (PST) to grant him a status, on the basis of all the support of the community that he has”, adds the lawyer, in reference to the important mobilization to avoid his deportation in the last two years, which allowed Mr. Konaté to obtain a reprieve in November 2021.
The third request, however, is more “urgent”: a letter was sent to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), until “everything is assessed”. “It is above all on this that we anticipate a rapid response. But if not, we will go to Federal Court to obtain another reprieve. I am even ready to go to the UN Commission on Human Rights if necessary. We will go all the way,” says Mr. Cliche-Rivard on this subject.
In August 2020, Ottawa and Quebec announced the establishment of a program to allow asylum seekers who worked in care during the pandemic to stay permanently in the province. However, the federal government has restricted the regularization program to remove eligible professions such as maintenance workers or security guards, at the request of outgoing Prime Minister François Legault.