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24 Jan

Hundreds of nonviolent immigration detainees sent to max-security jails as part of ‘abhorrent’ government program

Canada’s immigration authorities locked up nearly 1,500 nonviolent immigration detainees in maximum-security jails last year, the Toronto Star has found.

8 Mar

Toronto man set to be deported to Nigeria after a 13-year battle

A Toronto man has lost his last-ditch effort to delay his deportation to Nigeria after a 13-year fight that ended Thursday when the Federal Court refused to hear his latest request to suspend the removal.

28 Jun

‘What if we rattle his f—n’ cages?’ Government officials overheard discussing how to cross-examine mentally ill detainee

The conduct of two bureaucrats working for Canada’s border police is under investigation after they were overheard strategizing about how to “rattle” a mentally ill immigration detainee they were about to question at a hearing.

26 Jul

Canada is using ancestry DNA websites to help it deport people

Canada’s border agency has used ancestry.com and familytreedna.com to establish nationalities of migrants — even contacting users.

30 Jul

Canada uses DNA and ancestry sites to check migrants’ identity

Border agency says the tools assist its officials in ‘providing indicators of nationality’

31 Jul

Canada says it is using DNA websites to identify some migrants

Canada is using DNA and commercial genealogical sites to help determine the nationality of migrants whose origin is in question.

6 Aug

Border agents using DNA databases like familytree.com and ancestry.com to ID detainees, track relatives

Canada has been trying to deport Franklin Godwin since 2000 when the former refugee was declared a danger to the public for his lengthy criminal convictions of drug offences and fraud.

 

31 Aug

Deportations on the back of consumer genetic tests worry scientists

Canada’s border enforcement agency appears to be using genetic tests and DNA ancestry sites to determine country of origin for would-be deportees

9 Nov

Immigration detainee sues feds for $50 million, alleging he suffered a mental breakdown and was given electric shock treatment

A former immigration detainee, jailed for almost five years, two of them in solitary, while border officials fought in court to have him deported, is suing Ottawa for failing to heed doctors’ warnings of his mental illness and provide him with proper care.

10 Nov

Immigration detainee seeks $65M in lawsuit against Ottawa for violating rights

Prosper Niyonzima, 36, says detention caused him to have a mental breakdown

18 Aug

Overhaul immigration detention system: Editorial

If you want to understand what’s wrong with Canada’s immigration detention system, consider the case of Ricardo Scotland.

16 Aug

Immigration tribunal to audit long-term detention practices

The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) will conduct what it calls an independent audit of the long-term detention of non-citizens, after two court rulings in the past three weeks found detainees may be denied basic fairness.

15 Aug

Judge slams Canada’s system for detention of asylum seekers

A judge has set free a refugee claimant and called the system for detaining some asylum seekers arbitrary and Kafkaesque

15 Aug

Barbadian freed after detention in immigration centre ‘for no reason’

“Nobody knew why he was detained,” Justice Morgan said, describing Scotland’s imprisonment as oppressive and nightmarish.

14 Aug

Ontario judge frees refugee claimant, calls detention Kafkaesque

A judge has called the legality of Canada’s immigration-detention system into question in a case in which he set free a refugee claimant who had done nothing wrong, yet was detained in a maximum-security prison for 17 months.

14 Aug

Refugee claimant released after being jailed ‘for no real reason at all,’ judge says

Ordering the immediate release of immigration detainee Ricardo Scotland, who has spent the last 10 months in maximum-security jail despite not having any criminal charges or convictions, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Morgan was unequivocal in his condemnation of federal immigration authorities.

14 Aug

Refugee claimant jailed ‘for no real reason’ released under judge’s orders

A refugee claimant walked out of a downtown courthouse completely free, after a judge released him from a 18-month immigration detention enforced for “no real reason” on Monday afternoon.

13 Aug

Why is this man in Prison?’, judge asks government lawyer in immigration detention case

Refugee claimant with no criminal record has been locked up in maximum-security jail since October.

01 Aug

Contractor wanted for surveillance of immigration detainees upon release

A tender notice by Canada Border Services Agency offers a glimpse into what Ottawa is eyeing as an alternative to immigration detention.

01 Feb

Former immigration detainee struggles with freedom after 67 months behind bars

Abdirahmaan Warssama is no longer locked up, but without status, he can’t get treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder or work to support himself.

14 Jan

This Man Was Jailed for Five Years Because Canada Couldn’t Deport Him

On one of the happiest days of Abdirahmaan Warssama’s life, he got his hair cut and devoured a home-cooked meal of Somali food at his sister’s house.

16 Dec

After almost six years in jail with no charge, Somali man set for release amid questions about deportation

After precisely five years and seven months in a high-security prison despite facing no charge or sentence, Abdirahmaan Warssama was finally told he could leave, Wednesday morning.

16 Dec

Somali man ordered released after 67 months in immigration detention

In an extraordinary decision, a tribunal has ordered the release of Abdirahmaan Warssama, who has been languishing in Lindsay jail awaiting removal from Canada.

09 Dec

Border agency punishes detainee by prolonging detention, tribunal told

Lawyer accuses CBSA of punishing immigration detainees by prolonging their detention if they refuse to co-operate for removals.

07 Dec

‘I cannot go back to Somalia’: Failed refugee fights to live freely in Canada at detention review

TORONTO — Inside a high-security prison, wearing a bright-orange inmate’s jumpsuit, Abdirahmaan Warssama sat passively with arms crossed for most of his detention review, until suddenly angered with what a Canada Border Services Agency official was saying.

04 Dec

Immigration detention: Trapped in a ‘legal black hole’

Immigration detention is a world shrouded in secrecy, where people Canada doesn’t want are locked away, sometimes for years.

01 Dec

Failed refugee in jail five years for refusing to sign paperwork that would mean removal to Somalia

If Abdirahmaan Warssama signs a piece of paper, he can get out of the high-security prison where he has spent the last five years. But he won’t sign it.