Kenyan Preacher and Daughters Deported from Canada Following Failed Asylum Claim

A Kenyan gospel minister and her two daughters were deported from Canada on Thursday after their asylum claim was rejected.

Reverend Hadassah, legally known as Rosalind Wanyeki, and her daughters, aged nine and six, were removed by the Canadian Border Services Agency and transported on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, routed through Addis Ababa, to Nairobi. This deportation followed a final ruling from a Canadian immigration judge, who upheld the removal order after the family's last appeal was denied earlier in the week.

Ms. Wanyeki sought asylum in Canada in 2020, claiming torture and threats to her life in Kenya. Over the past five years, she established a gospel ministry and a small business in Toronto, while her daughters attended local schools. She argued that returning to Kenya would jeopardise her life and disrupt her children's development, given their limited cultural and emotional connections to their country of origin.

The family's detention by the Canadian Border Services Agency prior to their deportation triggered a wave of public support. An online petition urging authorities to halt the deportation garnered over 2,000 signatures, characterising Ms. Wanyeki as a crucial figure within the immigrant community, providing spiritual and emotional support to those fleeing religious persecution.

The petition emphasised that the children "have grown up in Canadian schools, formed friendships here and adopted the Canadian way of life," adding that they "have no connection to Kenya, culturally, socially or emotionally — and removing them from Canada would traumatise them and expose them to significant danger and instability."

Despite these appeals, the court determined that the family's asylum claim did not meet the legal requirements for protection. The specific reasons for the rejection remain undisclosed; however, Canadian immigration law permits deportation if a claimant is deemed inadmissible, provides false information, or fails to demonstrate a credible risk upon return.

Speaking from the detention centre, Ms. Wanyeki conveyed her distress, saying, "I was already established, I had the church, I had my own business, I have my two kids. I have come all this way, and then I am asked to go back," she said tearfully, "It’s as good as saying, ‘if you want me to go back to Kenya, honestly, kill me here’."