After successfully fleeing Mali, a Canadian mother has been fighting tirelessly for months to repatriate her daughter, who was held there by her father, to Canada. This international kidnapping case has reached an impasse, while Ottawa seems to have exhausted all its resources.
Mariam, whose real identity is not revealed for security reasons, is in the middle of a nightmare. A dual Canadian and Malian citizen, this mother of several children, all of whom are Canadian, had been in Mali for some time under the yoke of an abusive husband when she made the decision to return to Canada last fall. . “I had to break into the cupboard where he kept our papers,” she explains, from the safe accommodation where she now lives. “But I saw that the Canadian passport [d’une de mes] daughter[s] had expired. »
At the Canadian Embassy in Bamako in Mali, it was confirmed to him that to issue a new passport, the agreement of both parents was required. Fearing for her safety and that of her offspring, Mariam makes the heartbreaking decision to leave with her children, momentarily leaving her 5-year-old daughter behind. “I had to go to Canada. I had no choice anymore,” she said, her voice cracking.
Shortly after her return to Canada, the stress escalates when the little girl is threatened with excision in Mali. “This is where we accelerated the pace and put the pressure on,” explains Mariam’s worker, whose name is withheld for the same security reasons. Officials from the Canadian Embassy in Mali and Global Affairs Canada have been contacted. “We had managed to bring everyone together in a Zoom. We even reopened the Canadian embassy in Mali on a Saturday. We thought it would be settled there, ”she continues.
At the beginning of December, a court order granted Mariam full custody of her daughter in Canada and exempted her from the obligation to have the father’s signature to give her a Canadian passport. She will also end up obtaining full custody of her daughter in Mali from a Malian judge.
In the process, Mariam and her worker asked for help from organizations such as the Red Cross, Enfant-Retour and Wildaf, which defends women’s rights in West Africa. Steps have been taken with the Sûreté du Québec to file a complaint for international kidnapping with Interpol. A letter was also sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly. “I even wrote to the Prime Minister,” said the speaker.
Fear of diplomatic incident
In the absence of being able to quickly redo a passport to the girl, Immigration Canada proposes to issue an emergency travel document, which can be issued quickly “in case of extreme urgency”. But still it is necessary that someone can pick up the little girl from her father to take her to the airport, which the staff of the Canadian Embassy in Mali cannot do.
According to international family law experts The duty consulted, Global Affairs Canada cannot take on the physical custody of a child or intervene in the legal affairs of a foreign country without risking a diplomatic incident.
It is also not possible to seek the return of the child under the Hague Convention, a system of cooperation between countries to govern intercountry adoption and prevent child abduction, since Mali is not a member.
In an email sent to Duty, Global Affairs Canada indicates that it cannot give details on this case given the laws protecting personal information. However, he said he provided “consular assistance to the family” without giving details of the actions taken. “For more information, please consult the Canadian Consular Services Charter which outlines the consular services available to Canadian citizens as well as the limits of these services,” it said.
Me Véronique Dorval, legal aid lawyer in the case, is surprised that the little girl is thus abandoned to her fate. “She is a Canadian citizen. I find it odd that we can’t do absolutely anything,” she says. However, she says she understands very well the limits of Canada’s involvement in a foreign country. However, this is where the shoe pinches. “It becomes difficult to put in place a plan to pick up the child,” she said. “In Mali, there is corruption. We don’t know who to trust. And the members of the lady’s family are afraid of reprisals. »
Even though Mariam has obtained full custody of her daughter in Mali, it seems that it is difficult to force the father to hand over his daughter to the authorities. Last week, after going to the father’s home and work in Bamako, a bailiff, mandated to pick up the little girl, returned empty-handed.
another hurdle
Another obstacle arises, the difficulty of obtaining the travel document allowing the girl to take the plane. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), an emergency travel document in the child’s name is currently approved with conditions. In particular, the girl must provide new passport-size photos and proof of travel to Canada, such as a plane ticket.
Mariam is exhausted. “It’s been 4 months since I spoke to my daughter,” she breathes in response, when asked about her state of mind. For now, this mother has only one wish: “I want Canada to demand that [le père] give me back my daughter. “His speaker agrees. “If it had been Mélanie Joly’s child, he would already be here. »
Already a lot of effort has been made to provide all the documents requested, adds the speaker who praises Mariam’s courage. “I don’t know how many people we met, and sent emails… […] We filled out so many forms for the Canadian government. To me, this is institutional violence. »
Since April 2022, Global Affairs Canada has received requests for consular assistance related to just over 100 potential child abduction cases worldwide. They didn’t all turn out.
Asked about the case of the girl in Mali, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, did not answer the questions of the Duty.