Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Canada Approves Refugee Claim Of Man Who Fled Somalia After Death Threat

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Sep, 2015 12:50 PM
    WINNIPEG — A Somali man who swam across the Red River thinking it was the border between the United States and Canada has had his refugee claim accepted.
     
    The Immigration and Refugee Board told 32-year-old Yahya Samatar at a hearing in Winnipeg today that his claim was accepted.
     
    Samatar can now apply to be a permanent resident, a process that could take more than a year.
     
    At that time, he will be able to bring his wife and four children to Canada.
     
    Samatar was a human rights worker in Somalia, was kidnapped and fled after his life was threatened by terrorist group Al Shabab.
     
    It took him a year to reach Canada — first he flew from Somalia to Brazil, then hiked through the jungle to Colombia, then up through Central America and to the United States, where he was detained, then headed north.
     
    He found himself on the shore of the Red River.
     
    Although he wasn't exactly sure where he was, he believed crossing the river would land him on Canadian soil so he jumped in and swam across through the fast and frigid waters, wondering if he would encounter crocodiles as he would in rivers at home.
     
    Emerging on the other side, Samatar walked across several farms before meeting a Good Samaritan who gave him clothes and linked him with the Canadian Border Services Agency.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Alberta Researchers Say Discovery Could Be 'Game Changer' For Diabetic Research

    The new pathway was found after researchers examined pancreatic cells from 99 human organ donors.

    Alberta Researchers Say Discovery Could Be 'Game Changer' For Diabetic Research

    Shooting In Wilno, Ont. Leaves 1 Dead, Ontario Police Looking For Gunman Still At Large

    Shooting In Wilno, Ont. Leaves 1 Dead, Ontario Police Looking For Gunman Still At Large
    Police advised local businesses to lock their doors and urged some residents to relocate while they searched for the gunman.

    Shooting In Wilno, Ont. Leaves 1 Dead, Ontario Police Looking For Gunman Still At Large

    Vancouver Whitecaps Fan Christy Clark Trash Talks Seattle Soccer Team In Partisan Tweet

    Vancouver Whitecaps Fan Christy Clark Trash Talks Seattle Soccer Team In Partisan Tweet
    Premier Christy Clark's unabashed support for the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer club is drawing heated debate on social media over her comments directed at the team's rival, the Seattle Sounders.

    Vancouver Whitecaps Fan Christy Clark Trash Talks Seattle Soccer Team In Partisan Tweet

    Crown Wants 20 Years For B.C. Man, Reza Moazami, Convicted Of Luring Teenage Girls Into Prostitution

    Crown Wants 20 Years For B.C. Man, Reza Moazami, Convicted Of Luring Teenage Girls Into Prostitution
    The convictions included sexual assault, sexual exploitation and living off the avails of prostitution

    Crown Wants 20 Years For B.C. Man, Reza Moazami, Convicted Of Luring Teenage Girls Into Prostitution

    Charges Laid In Arsons, Shootings Targeting B.C. Justice Institute

    Charges Laid In Arsons, Shootings Targeting B.C. Justice Institute
    Two men have been arrested and charged for attacks on more than a dozen people linked, sometimes in the most tenuous way, to the institute that trains British Columbia's police officers

    Charges Laid In Arsons, Shootings Targeting B.C. Justice Institute

    Jarrod Sidhu Joins Vancouver Police, To Work With Father Police Sergeant Tej Sidhu

    Jarrod Sidhu Joins Vancouver Police, To Work With Father Police Sergeant Tej Sidhu
    Jarrod Sidhu is one of the 13 new recruits who joined the department on Thursday and is posted under his father, Tej Sidhu, who is a sergeant with the Vancouver police department

    Jarrod Sidhu Joins Vancouver Police, To Work With Father Police Sergeant Tej Sidhu