Thank you.
The House of Commons was confronted last summer with the reality of what happens when a mistake is made.
It's important to understand exactly how deportations happen in Canada. Those who are deported from Canada, particularly if they were detained prior to their removal, cannot simply slip back quietly into their country of origin and try to find a different safe place to go. To the contrary, in many cases they will be handed over directly into the hands of the authorities in their government of origin. In those cases where the government is the very agent of persecution that they've tried to flee, the consequences are obvious.
As I was starting to say, the Commons was confronted with this reality last summer, when the case of Adel Benhmuda was brought to the attention of the minister in the House. Mr. Benhmuda and his family had fled from Libya to Canada. They made a refugee claim, which was unsuccessful; did a pre-removal risk assessment, which was unsuccessful; had some kids; and then the whole family was deported back to Libya. This was before the recent regime change in Libya.
When they were put on the plane, their passports were handed over to the flight crew. This is standard procedure for Canada. I don't know about other countries. So their passports were handed over and they were deported to Tripoli. On arrival in Tripoli, their passports, in an envelope, were handed over to the security service of Libya.
Understandably, and entirely predictably, the family was detained. The spouse and kids were freed, but Adel was detained and tortured and interrogated for months, simply because he had been deported from Canada and it was presumed that he must have made an asylum claim here. It was presumed that he was therefore an opponent to the regime. His story has been verified by UNHCR after extensive interviews.
He's not the only one. A number of years ago, some members of this committee may remember there was the case of Kevin Yourdkhani and his family. They were Iranians. They too had come from Iran to make a refugee claim. They failed, they were deported, and their documents were handed over, again, to the flight crew.
On arrival in Tehran, Iran, their documents were given to the authorities there. Both Majid and Mosomeh, husband and wife, were detained and tortured and abused for months—again, interrogated because they had made an asylum claim in Canada.
The issues we're talking about here...and I'm sure the House knows this, but I think it's important to have some real-life examples in front of you of just what the implications are of a mistake.