As for Mahin Shahriar, a 28-year-old refugee from Bangladesh. Today, he is languishing in a US immigration detention center after inadvertently crossing the border into the US. Shahriar first came to Canada in 2019 as an asylum seeker. Earlier this summer, on the invitation of a friend, he took a long weekend to explore a homestead outside of Montreal. Only later does he come to suspect that the property is part of a much larger human trafficking ring, which has led to his tragic fate.
Shahriar’s journey quickly took a dangerous turn when he accidentally found himself on the wrong side of the US border. Now he is unable to re-enter Canada, where he had been living without legal documentation. His case is made even more complicated by a refugee application that he filed while living in Canada. Though he’s been in a difficult situation, Shahriar’s attorney, Washim Ahmed, has been fighting tooth and nail to help secure his return.
“The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is preventing his return to Canada,” said Ahmed. He’s had to resort to federal courts to force a final determination from CBSA about Shahriar’s status. Further, he has called on Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Gary Anandasangaree, to intervene and help rectify this scenario.
In living Canada, Shahriar was able to get his mother permanent residency and help prepare the claim that allowed him to win it. Recently, his mother has been hospitalized because of her increasing mental health distress. Shahriar’s familial connection to his claimed home country strengthens his case immensely. Because his first claim is older, he now has standing to apply for a pre-removal risk assessment.
Ahmed told us that due to no communication from CBSA, his whole summer was ruined. He noted that CBSA is not rejecting him. Rather, they will just stop responding to us completely. The attorney pointed to the legal duties CBSA is under regarding Shahriar’s case.
“Quite simply, they have a legal obligation to bring him back.” – Washim Ahmed
The circumstances of Shahriar’s detention raise troubling questions about the legality of his continued confinement. Ahmed noted that unlike Orestes, who did not have a criminal record nor ever posed a threat to the community. “My client is in arbitrary detention. He didn’t commit any crime. He didn’t rob anybody, hurt anybody, break anything. And it’s been so for almost six months,” he said.
The impact of the Safe Third Country Agreement is further compounded in Shahriar’s case. Ahmed noted that if individuals from the US attempt to enter Canada and are rejected based on this agreement, similar rules should apply here. American Trespassers are a Thing of the Past Indeed, some Americans went as far as trying to enter Canada illegally. Border officials turned them away using the safe third country agreement. We’re now asking them to extend those same principles of that agreement to this situation,” he continued.
He went on to claim, “If you have a family member in Canada with legal status, or if they are a family Re-unification – as he was – then you have the right to return.” Ahmed is adamant that the result have the exception acknowledged within the settlement or, better yet, have the exception done in practice. He urges that no matter how it is done, Shahriar needs to be allowed to return to Canada.
Now that the situation is going to change, Shahriar and his legal counsel are anxiously awaiting a response from the Canadian authorities. That answer might just unlock his repatriation. The thought that he’ll lose everything, his own fate as uncertain as Tz’uk’s, hangs over them like a storm cloud. He continues to grapple with the risk of deportation to Bangladesh.
“He doesn’t know where he’s going. He can’t be deported to Bangladesh. He needs to go back to Canada. And so we’re asking Canadian officials to do what’s right – but also what they’re legally obliged to do.” – Washim Ahmed