Canadian authorities are reportedly set to deport a family who fled Nigeria over fear of their daughters being subjected to female genital mutilation.
Rasheedat Bakare, her husband Afeez, their son Faaiq and daughter Faiqah all fled Nigeria and arrived in Canada in 2017, shortly before their youngest daughter Farhana was born in the country in 2018.
The Nigerian family were denied refugee status on Thursday November 28, by Canadian authorities who asked them to leave the country by 3 p.m on Friday November 29, a directive that led to a protest being staged outside the office of Windsor West NDP MP Brian Masse by the African Community Organization of Windsor (ACOW).
“My children’s life, my husband’s life is at risk,” said Rasheedat Bakare. “We ran away because they wanted to circumcise my baby girl — the one I brought from Africa.
When I got to Canada, I had another baby girl. Currently, I’m pregnant with another baby girl. Now [I’ll have] three baby girls — [and all of their lives are] going to be at risk.”
A temporary delay on the deportation order was issued on Friday, shortly after Rasheedat who is approximately five months pregnant collapsed and was rushed to a hospital.
