John Mulwa, a chef, who has been living in Hamilton for eight years, will not be deported this month. Mulwa, a Kenyan refugee was granted an additional year and a half to remain in Canada.
READ MORE: Kenyan refugee living in Hamilton fears for his life ahead of deportation
After fleeing Kenya from violence, he says he’s striving to obtain permanent residency in the community he calls home.
At the doorstep of deportation and potential life risks, Mulwa says a celebration ensued a week ago when local MP Matthew Green broke the news that he was granted an extension to remain on Canadian soil.
“But again it’s only temporary, so now I gotta do what I gotta do to convince the government to let me stay here and work,” Mulwa said.
Mulwa says after numerous attempts at securing protected refugee status he says he was continually denied mainly due to a lack of evidence of his life being in danger.
READ MORE: Kenyan refugee fights to stay in Canada before deportation
Mulwa says, “the evidence the needed was from the people planning to kill me, how could get a letter from the people planning to kill you?”
Mulwa says he had to leave his family and flee over violent land disputes, “I build a house on my land, my dad a small house, but it was demolished, set on fire… but for sure I saw people killed in front of me, including police.”
Mulwa says his scheduled Saturday flight was cancelled and confirmation of his temporary reprieve came in.
READ MORE: Kenyan refugee in Hamilton expects extension to remain in Canada
Hamilton Centre MP Matthew Green says he believes community support played a major role in his extension which included an online petition with nearly 19,000 signatures calling for his stay.
“I do believe having this community support behind John, allowed our office to tell his story in a way for the ministry to take him into consideration,” Green said.
CHCH News did reach out to Canada’s immigration and refugee department and border services about the decision and we are waiting to hear back.
Mulwa’s lawyer Joshua Makori says on top of his length of time here, Mulwa also has no criminal record, pays taxes and is a volunteer in the community. Makori says an application for permanent residency has been filed.
UPDATE: Canada Border Services Agency tell CHCH News it can not comment on a specific case.
They add all individuals issued a removal order may seek redress through various processes of appeals, judicial review and if eligible, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Pre-removal risk assessment, if they feel they may be subject to persecution in their country of origin, and Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) Applications for Permanent Residence.
