Boy sent here on one-way ticket
December 18, 2009
Comments on this story
(17)
Raveena Aulakh
STAFF REPORTER
Note: This story was
edited from a previous version that incorrectly said the 14-year boy was from
Jamaica.
The case of a 14-year-old Jamaican entering Canada two years ago on a one-way ticket has prompted a federal court judge to urge the government to review its immigration procedures.
"Clearly measures need to be taken to avoid similar situations in the future," said Robert Mainville in a ruling last week. "There is no question of encouraging in any fashion or manner whatsoever the act of sending and abandoning foreign children in Canada."
Mainville also temporarily stayed deportation proceedings after the Toronto Children's Aid Society stepped in, saying the boy's safety would be at risk if he were sent back to St. Lucia.
The Ministry of Public Safety wanted him deported so he could be united with his family.
The teenager, now 16, cannot be named because he is in the care of Children's Aid. He arrived in Canada in August 2007 on a one-way ticket.
According to court documents, the youth was placed on a plane to Canada "for the purpose of having him illegally immigrate to Canada."
He started living with his older brother, who was already living illegally in Toronto. The older brother was eventually deported to St. Lucia. The 16-year-old was placed in the temporary care of the Children's Aid Society.
In documents submitted in court, caseworkers with Children's Aid said they were in contact with the teen's mother and siblings in St. Lucia and believe the teen is at risk of joining youth gangs if he returns there.
Earlier, Children's Aid asked for a pre-removal risk assessment based on the contention that he would be targeted to join gangs. Immigration authorities found none and ordered him deported on Dec. 12.
Children's Aid asked for a deferral of the deportation order and it was refused. The agency then asked for a judicial review of the decision.
In his decision, Mainville said the children's agency is ill suited to assess the family situation in St. Lucia, but the situation involving an abandoned child is "also beyond the expertise of a removal officer ... In such circumstance, in light of the fact that a minor child is involved, I prefer to act cautiously. "
Children's Aid will be back in court on Jan. 29 to request the boy become a Crown ward.
Meanwhile, the teenager is in foster care and doing well, said Rob Thompson, communications director for the Children's Aid Society. He's been in foster care since spring 2008.
It is probably not the first time a child has been sent unaccompanied to Canada illegally, said Thompson. "I'm sure it's happened before but I've been in this position for two years and I haven't heard of anything like it."
Robert Palmer of WestJet said the airline allows children 12 and above to travel on their own. But they have to show proof of identification and different embassies have their own rules for additional requirements, such as notarized letters.
It is not known how the teen got into Canada.
Toronto Star