The Somali-Canadian trapped in Kenya for 11 weeks is finally home in Canada, reunited with her 12-year-old son whom she believed she was only leaving for a 2 week vacation when she visited her mother. But while the trip is over, the residual effects of her ordeal are being debated across the internet. There appear to be two, and it’s a little frightening how large the one is that’s arguing Suaad Hagi Mohamud was in the wrong.
There have been all sorts of justifications for her delay, from blaming her for the poor likeness of her passport photograph, to the inherent bigotry of Kenyans against Somalis, to outrage that she may sue the government of Canada for the mix-up. I do have an answer for each of these questions, but all three of them are secondary to the broader issue that I will go into in a minute.
The photograph, which — according to various people, does not bear a reasonable likeness to Ms. Mohamud — is really beside the point here. The passport was issued by Passport Canada and verified as a legal travel document by the government of Canada. Although it’s possible that Kenyan authorities felt her photograph looked different, her possession of 12 other pieces of documentation and proof of residency in Canada should have been enough. Of course, there are suggestions that Kenyan authorities were merely fishing for an inducement to streamline the process, something backed up by the fact Kenyans and Somalis have a rather tortured history. But it still has nothing to do with the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi checking out the incident, and siding with Kenyan authorities. The third concern is perhaps the most unsavoury. Many people have indicated in comments on news sites, and on talk radio shows, that they are upset that Ms. Mohamud might sue the government. This seems to have lumped her into a category unfairly with people like Maher Arar, Abousfian Abdelrazik, Ahmad El Maati, Muayyed Nureddin and Abdullah Almalki, all of whom were detained abroad on suspicion of terrorism charges and have since said they will either sue the government or force an inquiry.
The fact is, I think any reasonable person who had been treated in the same fashion as Suaad Mohamud would certainly seek legal recompense for their ordeal. Imagine being on your way home from a vacation abroad, being challenged on your identity, thrown into a foreign prison where you are forced to languish until your own family can pony up $2,600 in bail that has yet to be reimbursed. How would you feel as a Canadian citizen? How would you feel as a human being? There’s a good reason why people sue for incompetence, negligence, and indifference leading to pain and suffering. As anyone would have to admit, unlawful confinement and incarceration is an injury to a person in and of itself.
But the broader issue is the general resentment directed toward a woman who, by all observable evidence, is a good, hard-working, decent Canadian citizen. Just like any of us. I myself have directed hostility and anger towards immigrants and refugees who have abused the generosity of our country, and made a mockery of our benevolence. But Ms. Mohamud is not one of those people, and by all accounts, has done nothing wrong that would justify balming her for her ordeal.
Considering Jonathan Kay’s article pointing to the possibility the problem lies with the High Commission in Nairobi, is the blame being directed at our government therefore a little heavy-handed? Perhaps a little bit, yes. In the preliminary stages of her ordeal, before the media had got wind of the predicament and made it into a political issue, I could believe that such an incident would be difficult to find it’s way to the attention of the highest levels of office. But once it did become clear that the situation warranted direct and immediate attention, our government could have done more to help a citizen in need. If the delay was not deliberate, it was certainly indifferent, and I think that’s what so many people find objectionable.
This case has highlighted an undercurrent of resentment toward immigrants who run into trouble abroad, a perception perhaps assisted by the media attention on these issues. It is certainly a very valid concern that we do not allow our passport to become a kind of security against injury abroad, for those who would use our citizenship as a means to an end having nothing to do with Canada. But that anger is misdirected in this case, and it is misdirected at Ms.Mohamud. She deserves our sympathy, our support, and ultimately assurances that such mistakes will not be made again.
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Source: National Post
Raphael Alexander is a Vancouver-based blogger
