An Egyptian asylum seeker in Montreal says he will be deported from Canada and faces the death penalty imposed by the Egyptian justice system.
The Dr Ezzat Gouda remembers his wife’s disbelief when he told her that his request for refugee status had been refused and that he would be sent back to his country of origin.
“She asked, ‘How is this possible, in a country like Canada?’ “, he said in Arabic through an interpreter on Monday.
Mr. Gouda was speaking two days before returning to Egypt, where the justice system sentenced him to the death penalty.
The couple, who have had to live separately since 2014, always dreamed of living together in Canada, Mr. Gouda said. They now fear that they will have to jointly endure the terror in Egypt.
Mr. Gouda, a retired obstetrician, was ordered to return to Egypt by 1er November, despite claims that he was persecuted and killed there because of his political affiliations in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolution.
“I was shocked because I had presented official documents, authentic documents of my life sentence and my death sentence,” he said. He was convicted in absentia for two protests that turned violent in 2013.
Mr. Gouda claims to have presented Canadian authorities with court documents proving that he was sentenced to death in Egypt, but the main immigration officer considered that these documents were too vague and insufficient for his application for refugee status. be accepted, according to a written decision.
“I note that these two court orders are approximately eight years old and details of the charges and reasons for the arrest have not been provided,” the official said in his decision.
Mr. Gouda was previously arrested several times without charge in 2011, when millions of Egyptians staged an uprising to demonstrate against the country’s then-President Hosni Mubarak and demand democracy. It was one of several anti-government rebellions in the Middle East at that time, as part of the Arab Spring movement.
Mr. Gouda said he helped create the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party, which took power after the 2012 elections.
In 2013, the head of the Egyptian army seized power in a military coup against the elected party government. Since then, Egyptian authorities have arrested thousands of Muslim Brotherhood party members and supporters after labeling them terrorists, in a campaign that Amnesty International called a “ruthless attempt to crush dissent.” .
The days following the coup were filled with fear and grief for Mr. Gouda and his family. He said his 26-year-old son, Abdul Rahman, was shot and killed while taking part in a march against the military’s takeover.
A few days later, dozens of armed men broke into his father’s house, where he was staying with several family members, at 4 a.m. in the early morning. They also destroyed his clinic, he said. Since then, he has not returned to the house or the clinic.
The following month, on August 16, 2013, his second son, Omar, was shot dead while participating in what Mr. Gouda describes as a peaceful protest. Mr. Gouda was working at the hospital when his wife called him to tell him their son had been killed. Omar’s body was taken to the hospital morgue the next day.
Mr. Gouda said police and army officers continued to harass his family and even stormed his home while he was away, until he fled to Djibouti in 2014.
He hoped his wife and two other children could join him, he said. However, his passport was confiscated and his family assets were seized.
He continued to work as a doctor in Djibouti until he reached retirement age last year. Once he was not allowed to work, he had to leave the country, he said.
He was denied a visa to Canada last year and entered the country through the unofficial Roxham Road crossing, between Canada and the United States, in March 2022.
He told immigration officials he feared living in the United States because of growing hatred and racism toward Muslims.
Mr. Gouda’s account matches evidence he provided to immigration officials in his attempt to stay in Canada.
The decision to refuse him refugee status was made in December.
“Knowing that Canada is the country of respect for human rights and freedoms, and that is why I came here, I was shocked that this decision was made,” he confided .
Over the past year, Mr. Gouda alleges, his family continued to be harassed by the Egyptian state and questioned about their whereabouts.
He said his son-in-law was detained, tortured and interrogated for five months earlier this year.
“The Egyptian government is looking for me and if the Canadian government sends me to Egypt, the Canadian government will sentence me to death,” he said.
Mr. Gouda has booked a flight back to Egypt on the 1ster november.
Last year, dozens of Canadian Muslim organizations implored the Prime Minister to intervene on behalf of similarly situated asylum seekers in Vancouver.
The Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council has warned that five families could be deported from Canada because of their ties to the same political entities.
Mr. Gouda hopes Canada reconsiders its expulsion order and reassesses the risk he faces in Egypt.
He fears that his return will not be a happy reunion.
“My wife and daughters live in constant fear and this has only made things worse,” he said. They are worried and fear for my life if I come back. »