Amnesty International has reported that yesterday, Canadian Foreign Affairs again failed to issue the promised travel documents for Abousfian Abdelrazik.Thus preventing him from boarding the flight that would finally return this stranded Canadian citizen.
In case you are getting the stories of Canadians stranded by the Harper Government mixed up, Abousfian Abdelrazik is the Canadian citizen that has been stranded in the Sudan since 2003.
In brief Abdelrazik, came to Canada in 1990. He became a Canadian citizen in 1995, got married and had a daughter.
He knew Amed Ressam, the Canadian immigrant that got caught trying to cross the US border with explosives, back in 1999 (known as the New Years Eve bomber) and voluntarily testified at the Ressam’s trial in the US.
However upon his return to Canada CSIS put him under constant surveillance.
In 2003 he returned to the Sudan to visit his mother who is sick and while there CSIS labels him as a known associate of al-quaeda and he is arrested by the Sudanese government.
You can view a summary and timeline of the events here, as originally published by the Globe here
After being arrested by the Sudanese twice, he was finally released in July 2007 with the Sudanese “declaring that he is clear of all terrorist links and they no longer want to incarcerate an innocent man”.
However he was prevented from coming home because the Americans put him on their no fly list. The Canadian government could of bypassed the US no fly list by flying him home, in fact even the Sudanese offered to do so, but he needs to have a new Canadian passport to enter Canada, which the Harper Government has continually refused to issue.
So Abdelrazik’s lawyers in Canada sued the Harper government in June of this year and it appears that the government quietly decided to relent and issue travel documents.
And yesterday it appears that by failing to issue travel papers they have screwed him over one more time.
Reference the CBC here.
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