It was a story hailed by many as a moment showing Canada’s compassion in contrast to its larger neighbor.
Four years ago, Canada opened its doors to Dr. Khaled Almilaji, who had been barred from entering the United States under then-President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban, a move widely criticized as cruel and senseless.
But the epilogue of the story has gone largely unnoticed. In fact, it could be said that it is still waiting for a final chapter.
The Syrian otolaryngologist (head and neck surgeon) was a graduate student in the United States. However, in January 2017, he found himself stranded in Turkey, following an aid mission across the border from his homeland. He was prevented from re-entering the US, where his pregnant wife awaited his return, as a result of the Trump administration’s move.
It was the same White House policy that led Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond with a tweet that created a lot of buzz at the time and in the months after: “Those fleeing persecution, terror and war will be welcomed by Canadians, regardless of faith. Diversity is our strength” along with the hashtag “#WelcomeToCanada”.
Almilaji’s supporters in academia and humanitarian aid circles in the US and Canada went to great lengths to get the University of Toronto to allow him to continue his studies in health informatics north of the border.
In June of that year, Ottawa granted him a student visa to Turkey, allowing him to join his wife Jehan Mouhsen and start a new life in Canada. His story made headlines around the world.
Despite Almilaji’s numerous accomplishments since arriving here, including a Canadian Governor General medal for his international relief work, permanent residence in Canada is still out of reach.
It has been nearly three years since he was granted asylum and applied to become a permanent resident with his wife, with whom he has two Canadian-born children, Daria and Omar.
This despite the fact that the older sister and her family he helped bring to Canada in September 2019 under private refugee sponsorship will be on track to apply for citizenship later this year.
“I am happy that my sister and her children are safe in Canada. They couldn’t go back to Syria because of the war and my humanitarian work,” says Almilaji, who, after graduating from U of T, worked at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and is now a project manager at the University. Health Network.
“I don’t feel bitter. I just feel bad about my (lack of) status and try to think of all the wonderful things that have happened to me and the Canadians who have helped me and become my friends. I am grateful to the Canadian government and I am ashamed to complain.”
Almilaji, 40, arrived in Canada in June 2017 on a student visa and was granted asylum in February 2019; he applied for permanent residence a month later. Mouhsen, 31, a doctor from Montenegro, has been here on a visitor visa because she is not a refugee, although it is up to him.
The visitor visa does not allow Mouhsen to study or work in Canada, let alone travel outside the country, not even to visit his pediatrician father in the Balkans, who last year contracted COVID-19 and suffered a health scare in the ICU.
“I haven’t been able to do anything with my career for the last four, five years. I can’t even apply for medical residency at a hospital because I’m not a permanent resident,” Mouhsen said. “It’s really hard not being able to practice (medicine) and help out during the COVID pandemic.”
Processing times for permanent residence applications can vary, but it generally takes longer for a protected person to obtain permanent status than immigrants in economic and family classes. It is not unusual for accepted refugees to wait a year or two before receiving permanent residency.
In Canada, Almilaji has continued her humanitarian aid work with the Canadian International Medical Aid Organization, a group she co-founded to provide medical support and treatment to displaced Syrians sneaking across the border.
Along with two Canadians working on the ground in Turkey, Almilaji established the aid group in 2012. During a polio outbreak in a rebel-held area of Syria in 2013, he led a vaccination campaign in the conflict zone, smuggling medical supplies through government checkpoints. and immunize 1.3 million children.
That work earned him and his two co-founders, Dr. Jay Dahman and paramedic Mark Cameron, a Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada in April 2017 while he was stuck in Turkey.
Almilaji said the immigration department has not updated her application on its online portal since October 2020.
In response to a query from the Star, immigration department spokeswoman Julie Lafortune confirmed that the couple had applied for permanent residency in March 2019 and that the application is still ongoing.
“Messrs. Almilaji’s case has reached the security review stage. Security screening is done by partner agencies and is a routine part of the application process. The department is unable to provide a timeline on when results can be expected.” ”, he said in an email.
Almilaji said he has been vetted and cleared by US and Canadian officials to process his student visas in both countries and then his asylum application in Canada.
“He would have had to pass national security clearance to go to the US and come to Canada,” said Almilaji, who was actually reissued a new US student visa after Trump’s ban was lifted. challenged in US courts, but had already resettled in Toronto.
His sister, Yasmin Almilaji, said that she could not have come to the country without her brother’s help.
“I feel really bad for Khaled. He is a very loving person. He likes to help everyone who needs it. It’s sad to see him suffer like this,” said the mother of six, who arrived here in 2019 as a permanent resident under private refugee sponsorship.
“Everything is now on hold for them. It’s like the Canadian government has forgotten about them.”
Suanne Kelman, who has known the couple since their arrival, said she understands the pandemic has created delays and disrupted the immigration process, but Almilaji and Mouhsen have a clear case and the delay is unacceptable.
“This is a guy who was slapped by the United States. We welcomed him and his wife. We celebrate them. And now we’ve left them in limbo,” said Kelman, a retired Ryerson University journalism professor whose husband, neuroradiologist Allan Fox, was one of those who helped get Almilaji to U of T.
“They have a lot to bring to Canada and these are the people we choose to ignore.”
Reference-www.thestar.com