Three Strikes And You're Out...

"Even if you're going to try to remove him, it's inhumane in his medical condition to send him to a war zone where he will have no access to medical care."
"His continued detention, based on the new medical evidence that we have, constitutes cruel and unusual treatment."
Arghavan Gerami, defence lawyer

"In addition to your criminal record, which is a valid consideration in assessing the issue of danger to the public, members previously took note of the fact that not only was there an escalation in dangerous criminal behaviour but there was little evidence of rehabilitation to mitigate the danger concerns."
"You do not accept responsibility for your conduct, you have claimed that you were duped into committing the bank robberies."
Immigration Division custody decision

Ahmed Ali Ahmed. Family photo

What a dilemma. What to do with a convicted felon living in Canada without official status, whom the Immigration and Refugee Board ruled should be deported, when his country of origin and citizenship is less than anxious to welcome him back with open arms. Yemen, to be sure, is in a state of war, with its legal government unseated by a sectarian religious offensive, determined to place their own candidate in the presidency. But attempts to remove this man predated the insurgency.

Here is a young men, in the custody of immigration since the completion of a two-year sentence for robbery. He has a torn ligament in his knee, which has been refused reconstructive surgery to be performed on the Canadian dime. Meanwhile, the Canada Border Services Agency will attempt for the fourth time to remove Ahmed Ali Ahmed from Canada.

Since the Yemeni mission in Ottawa seems disinterested in discharging its duty to a Yemeni citizen clearly in need of representation, and repatriation, the fourth attempt to remove him and return him to his country of birth may not succeed either. In which case, Ahmed Ali Ahmed will continue to fester in prison, since he is considered a risk to reoffend, as well as being a flight risk. Flight, that is, from impending removal.

This man, like others in similar situations, represents a true nuisance factor. His criminal record in Canada is not just for robbery, but includes sexual assault, and forgery convictions as well. Not a very nice young man, and clearly a risk to Canadians should he be released. The board has rejected arguments that detention for this man constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

And nor does Canada consider his detention indefinite. The airports in Yemen have reopened.