By akademiotoelektronik, 03/10/2022

Canadian resident stuck in airport transit area for two weeks

This has been Déo Hasabumutima's place of residence for 14 days now.

With the camera of his phone, he shows us his current daily life. This Edmonton resident is stuck in this international space, without any solution or perspective, despite multiple appeals to Canadian authorities.

This situation is inevitably reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's film The Terminal, where a father played by Tom Hanks finds himself in a similar situation. Except that here, it's not cinema.

I'm tired, says Déo Hasabumutima in excellent French, trying to keep smiling behind his dark glasses.

I'm trying to deal with this, otherwise my blood pressure will rise. But all that is a lot of stress, confides the 57-year-old man, sitting on the bed of a tiny room, before leaving to get pasta, fries, chicken or a sandwich. The only choices offered in this closed space that he cannot leave.

The room Déo Hasabumutima was able to find in the transit area of ​​the airport.

Photo: Courtesy: Deo Hasabumutima

Stuck in Turkey, after leaving Niger

How did he get there?

Déo Hasabumutima obtained refugee status in Canada in 2016. A native of Burundi, this humanitarian worker received death threats, he says, before coming to Montreal, then to settle in Alberta, in Edmonton, with his wife and five children.

Permanent resident, in 2020 he launched the procedure to obtain his Canadian citizenship. At the same time, he went on a mission to Niger for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). This agency, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, helps vulnerable populations around the world by providing them with food.

Not yet having his Canadian passport, Déo Hasabumutima travels with his Burundian passport and his permanent residence card to return to Alberta. However, during his professional stay, his passport expires.

Since he obtained asylum in Canada to flee persecution in Burundi, he could not have it renewed, explains his lawyer, Hugues Langlais, while admitting that his client was reckless in not checking this item before his mission.

Before getting on the plane, the Canadian Embassy in Dakar told me that as a permanent resident, I will be fine. I didn't know there could be a problem, swears the person concerned, who wanted to take advantage of a month off to see his family in Edmonton.

At Niamey airport in Niger, everything is going well. On June 16, he can embark for Toronto. But everything gets complicated during the stopover in Türkiye. Unable to take his flight to Canada, access was refused for lack of a valid travel document.

A permanent residence card is not enough to travel. Canadian permanent residents must also have a valid passport on hand when traveling abroad, including when returning to Canada, can we read on the government website.

Déo Hasabumutima cannot leave the transit area of ​​Istanbul International Airport.

Photo: Courtesy: Deo Hasabumutima

Radio silence from the Canadian government

For the past two weeks, Déo Hasabumutima and his lawyer have been stepping up the steps. We contacted Global Affairs Canada and Immigration Canada, we have no news, laments Hugues Langlais.

He was granted protection by Canada. The goal now is to provide him with a document to repatriate him home, continues the lawyer.

Fortunately, says Déo Hasabumutima, Istanbul Airport has a hotel within this international zone. Having no credit card with him, he asks his wife daily to make an electronic transfer of nearly $280 at the reception. And its financial resources are increasingly limited.

I'm almost out of change. I requested a transfer by Western Union, but to collect it, I have to leave the transit area. However, I do not have the right to enter Turkey, he underlines.

This stalemate has gone on long enough, according to Hugues Langlais. You can't let it rot in an airport transit area. We are not talking about a dangerous criminal, but about a permanent resident, who has his family in Edmonton and who cannot return home.

Neither the Department of Immigration nor Global Affairs Canada responded to questions from Radio-Canada.