A mother and daughter, Russian citizens who lived in Israel for six years, were recently denied refugee status or fixed residency in Canada and given an order of deportation.
Website Shalom Toronto has covered the story of the pair, Larissa Lagnin and her daughter Nicole, who arrived in Canada in 2006. According to the site, hundreds of requests for refugee status in Canada are submitted by Israeli citizens or residents.
After having their initial request for asylum rejected and receiving a deportation order, the mother and daughter petitioned twice on several different claims, such as the benefit of the young girl and humanitarian reasons.
They initially succeeded in delaying the order, as it was decided that for the girl's benefit they could stay until she finished the school year. With the end of studies, a final notice came in May, again rejecting their request of residency and ordering their deportation.
Lagnin urned to the federal court in a last bid to delay the order.
She charged that they were not given full due process, and furthermore that her daughter, who can't read Russian, would be listed as 'problematic' by the Russian education system and receive strict treatment. At her school in Quebec she already needed special aid.
To their chagrin, the court did not receive either claim, saying that due process was served, and being as the girl speaks Russian there was no reason to believe she would face exceptional difficulties in Russia. The order for the pair's deportation is set to be carried out as soon as possible.