Sucaad Xaaji Max'uud

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

The paper run an editorial about it today.

____________

 

Overseas nightmares

 

Canadians setting off on overseas travels may worry that they will lose their passports, cash or credit cards. Few fret about losing their identities, however.

 

But that is apparently the nightmare that awaited two Somali-born travellers in Kenya, where they are trapped and unable to leave for Canada because Ottawa does not believe they are who they claim to be. It's a dilemma that would be familiar to Franz Kafka's famous character, Josef K, who wakes up one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime.

 

It's also a situation that highlights the failure of the government and its officials to assist citizens in trouble. Indeed, if the claimants are the citizens they – and their friends and relatives in Canada – say they are, it shows a laxity toward civil rights that is unbecoming of a democracy.

 

If the two are faking their identities, their cases could have been cleared up promptly by taking steps that would allow them to be identified through the routine fingerprinting, dental records or DNA tests used in domestic cases. Instead, they have been left wandering in a bureaucratic wilderness.

 

Suaad Hagi Mohamud of Toronto was to leave Kenya nearly two months ago, when Nairobi airport officials, claiming she didn't look like her passport photo, had her arrested. Released on bail, she found that Canadian consular officials had confirmed the Kenyans' suspicion that she was an imposter. Until last week, they ignored her pleas to prove her identity by taking her fingerprints.

 

Meanwhile,

Abdihakim Mohamed

, a young autistic man, has been stranded in Kenya since 2006, while his mother in Ottawa has vainly attempted to obtain a passport for him. The original was seized by Canadian officials when she brought it back with her on return from Kenya a year earlier – she claims for safekeeping. Passport Canada has since denied Mohamed a new one until his "true identity" is established. But officials have ignored his offer to take a DNA test.

 

There are signs that both cases may now be close to a resolution, as media interest has grown and pressure has built on the government. But a lack of aid for Canadians in trouble overseas is unfortunately not unique. In spite of Ottawa's own declarations that "Canada has long sought to support Canadians abroad" and that "assisting citizens who are living, travelling or preparing to travel abroad is one of the defining aspects of the consular services of every nation," the government seems to regard its help as optional.

 

The foreign affairs ministry's briefing for travellers reminds us that each year Canadians make more than 100 million trips abroad, and that they should be well prepared for the emergencies of the 21st century before they leave. What they don't say is that once there, they may be on their own. Or at least at the mercy of officials, and a government, whose opinion determines whether or not they warrant help.

 

The hallmark of a democracy is that its citizens are free to come and go as they please, and in safety. Fulfilling half the equation is not an option for the government.

 

Toronto Star

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Out of Africa

 

Anab Mohamed Issa just wants to bring her autistic son home. He's a Canadian citizen, stranded in Kenya. All he needs is a replacement passport.

 

Ms. Issa is Somali-Canadian. She works two jobs as a cleaner in Ottawa. For almost three years, Ms. Issa has been sending applications, letters, affidavits, forms and photos to Passport Canada.

 

"I feel like I'm standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, throwing paper in," says David Yerzy, a Toronto lawyer who has been working with Ms. Issa.

 

"I'm just very frustrated and depressed."

 

In 2004, Ms. Issa travelled with her 20-year-old son to Bosaso, Somalia. She liked Canada, had been here since 1990, but her son wasn't doing well here.

 

Abdihakim Mohamed is a big man, with disruptive behavioural problems. It was more than Ms. Issa could handle on her own. A psychiatrist in Scarborough thought a change in cultural context might improve his communication and social skills. So Ms. Issa and her son went to stay with relatives in Somalia. After about nine months, Ms. Issa returned to Canada.

 

That's when she made a mistake.

 

She described it, later, in an affidavit: "He was happy staying with my family and they were happy to look after him. However, I did not want to leave his Canadian passport with him because I was afraid it would be stolen. Canadian passports are very valuable in this part of the world and I wanted to keep it safely. I thought this was the best course of action because I have Power of Attorney for Property and I am responsible for his passport. I could not trust him to look after it and there was nowhere safe where it could be kept under lock and key."

 

It was the wrong decision, but understandable.

 

At Pearson Airport, in April 2005, Canadian officials seized her son's passport from her, because it was being carried by someone other than the holder. Fair enough.

 

In 2006, Ms. Issa's mother-in-law in Somalia got sick and was having trouble looking after Mr. Mohamed. Ms. Issa decided to bring her son home. She took him to Nairobi, to apply for a passport at the Canadian High Commission there, which serves Somalia. The immigration officer in Nairobi didn't believe Mr. Mohamed was who his mother said he was; one of the issues seems to be that he didn't seem autistic enough. The photo on his citizenship card was taken when he was younger, although to my eye, it bears a strong resemblance to a more recent photo.

 

Ms. Issa returned to Canada, leaving her son under the imperfect care of relatives in Nairobi. She kept trying to get him a passport. Mr. Mohamed is unhappy in Kenya; his autism and his Somali ethnicity make him vulnerable to thuggery and harassment from the authorities.

 

In April 2008, Ms. Issa got a letter from Passport Canada informing her she was under investigation for her "involvement in attempting to obtain a passport for an imposter in the name of [her] son Abdihakim." But she hasn't been charged with anything.

 

Then, in July, the same agency said she couldn't apply for a regular passport on her son's behalf anyway, because Mr. Mohamed's mental incapacity preceded the granting of Power of Attorney. Passport Canada told her she needs a court order giving her guardianship.

 

Ms. Issa would be happy to oblige -- but that process requires Abdihakim to be in Canada. Her other option, Passport Canada said, was to apply for a passport of limited validity on compassionate grounds.

 

But then, in November, Passport Canada told her that "there remains the issue surrounding the true identity of this individual, which must be resolved before a travel document will be issued."

 

In a particularly pig-headed coda, Passport Canada asked for her help in determining who the man applying for a passport in the name of her son might be.

 

Jean Lash of South Ottawa Community Legal Services has been gathering a pile of affidavits from Canadian citizens who know Mr. Mohamed and can vouch for his identity. Mr. Mohamed has offered to submit to DNA testing, Ms. Lash says, but Passport Canada hasn't taken him up on the offer.

 

"We're not sure what else we can do," says Ms. Lash.

 

"He had a valid passport, which was seized by the government," says Mr. Yerzy, who knows Mr. Mohamed and signed an affidavit attached to his recent photo. "It's not lost. All he needs is a passport renewal."

 

He might be home by now, if it weren't for the slow grind of an entrenched bureaucracy -- and if he were equipped to argue on his own behalf.

 

A spokesman for Passport Canada wouldn't comment on the case, or on what threshold of proof the agency requires when there's a dispute over identity.

 

Ottawa Citizen

[Abwaan]

Waa cajiib caqabadahaan haysta hooyadaan oo runtii xal loogu heli si aan sidaa u dhib badnayn.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

It is getting really scary now to what is happening to her; you know it could happen to qof walba Soomaaliyeed oo dalkaan Kanada dhalasho ka heysto. Fak Stephen Harper and his right-wing, xenophobic nutcase regime. Eebba ha u sahlo maskiinta.

 

On today's paper.

 

Woman stranded in Kenya gets no help from Ottawa

 

Canadian officials in Kenya are keeping a Toronto woman in suspense over fingerprint results that could confirm her identity.

 

"When you are waiting for something, it's too much actually," the woman said yesterday from Nairobi, where she has been in limbo for eight weeks – including eight days in jail – after being accused of not looking like her passport photo.

 

"I can't wait to see my son," she said. "I really miss him bad."

 

After weeks of pleading, the woman identifying herself as Suaad Hagi Mohamud had her fingerprints taken at the Canadian high commission Thursday.

 

The prints, she said, will match those she gave 10 years ago when she entered Canada as a Somali refugee. Consular officials did not tell her when the results might be known, only that they would "be in contact very soon," the woman said.

 

Anxious to conserve cellphone minutes, she did not call the high commission yesterday, but plans to today if she hears nothing.

 

"I'm broke," she said.

 

"I don't know what to do. I don't even know if my (return air) ticket is still valid."

 

In Ottawa, media handlers said they had no idea what is happening.

 

Foreign affairs spokesman Daniel Barbarie said he has asked to be kept up to date on the case, but Canadian consular officials have sent him nothing.

 

He knows nothing about the fingerprint-checking process, he said. He could not even officially confirm the woman went to the high commission to be fingerprinted.

 

The foreign affairs minister's spokeswoman said she, too, is being kept in the dark.

 

"I guess the officials will take the time they need, to do what they need to do," said Catherine Loubier.

 

Mohamud flew to Kenya from Toronto on April 29 to visit her sick mother, leaving her 12-year-old son with a neighbour.

 

Xigasho

[RedSea]

It's her. Look at her eyes and other facial features. People's appearances changes.

[Poker]

All of these cases have one thing in common, KENYA.

[Oz]

It's all about "toa kitu kidogo = Give a little something" whether your documents are legit or not.

 

She hasn't been eating lately, she needs to take few tips from Miss East Africa.

[Som@li]

I just got some info, Sucaad is an active member in SOL...

[Hunguri]

mmmmmm she is Xidigo beleive me!

[Ducaysane]

gabadhu ma nin bay ahaan jirtay waa geedii hore?

[LayZie G.]

^, ouch...

 

 

MMA, aiding a criminal should be criminalized in cyberspace and you should either be fined or jailed for giving this lady additional exposure that she neither deserves nor should receive. Typical of tabloid newspapers like the sun ravaging over this insane woman and her global criminal enterprise.

 

So far, the case is very clear. A woman was caught at a Nairobi airport. We know this said person was ready to fly back home to Canada. This impostor, whether she was someone else claiming to be Sucaad Max'uud or "Sucaad Max'uud" herself, we may never know.

 

From the time the said 'impostor' was detained, until she was let out in bail leaves room for doubt and a possible identity switch as the Canadian Officials are known to drag their heel when it comes to detention matters, because such cases have low priority, especially if it involves immigration fraud because most times, the said people have committed one crime or another, as the margin of error for wrongful detention is low because the number of innocent people detained without probable cause are slim to none. (they are known to leave criminals behind bar for a long period of time before the media picks up the story, in this case, tabloid media of all outlets)

 

Having said that, from the time the said 'impostor' was let go on bribe/bail, there is a very good chance that during this period, the identity of the real subject was switched back to the said Sucaad Max'uud, hence why she called attention to herself and got the media involved, means she has now come out of the hole she was in while another person was attempting to fly off with her identity, which means she wants this nightmare to be over, which means the victim card was the one to pull out.

 

She has called for her DNA to be taken and tested, via fingerprinting, which means this said person who took the test recently may in fact be Sucaad Max'uud but the person who tried to fly from kenya may have as well being the real 'impostor'.

 

Furthermore, the various photos blasted in this thread raise more suspicion as the period when you get your passport and when it expires is only 5 yrs, and no amount of weight lost, or hijab or no hijab can convince me that the person on the healthcard and driver license is in fact the same person thats on the passport, in person and the citizenship. The lady that bears the healthcare and driver license photo is not the same lady who bears the Canadian Citizenship and probably the passport that was withheld and may be in the hands of the Canadian authorities in Kenya by now.(its there for all of you to see, unless she had plastic surgery?)

 

With all that said, it is easy to always blame the big bad wolf, aka Canadian government and its incumbent prime minister and his party. It is so easy to say, as MMA put it, neo-conservative party that has zero tolerate for immigrants yada yada and such but at the end of the day, MMA and Co, you are granted a privilege, to hold the citizenship of this fine country, in other words, a gift, in which you MMA, if you have papers signed on the dotted line agreed to abide by the rules and to uphold them to the highest regard, no matter what. In other words, you can't turn the other way, when a fellow somali breaks few immigration laws and put it all on the harper government. Thats just preposterous.

 

You sign a social contract with your host country aka adopted country, you agreed to up hold the right to citizenship to the highest regard but if you break the contract, you pay for it, its that simple ya POSTER aka MMA. Why waste your energy on a tuug? Why not be outraged by the starving children in the Dadaab refugee camp, they need your attention not naag rabtey iney few measley dollars sameyso.

 

BTW, your citizenship ought to be revoked for bringing this insane woman and her insane allegations to the forefront of this forum.

 

PS: Sucaad Xaaji Max'uud's citizenship should be revoked as well

 

Pss: North, if this said Sucaad had her hijab on, especially with the updated pictures, you would have cried foul and demanded justice for the good muslimah eh? WOOF WOOF

 

MMA has nothing on this Immigrant Blogger's Diatribe

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Praying for return of mother trapped 8 weeks in Kenya

 

 

Strain marks the faces of family and friends as conditions deteriorate for a Toronto woman trapped in Kenya.

 

"I would like for them to bring my mom back," said 12-year-old Mohamed Asbscir yesterday at Lawrence Square mall, where he and his mother have habitually gone for treats on Saturday mornings.

 

"Can you imagine what he's going through?" said neighbour and babysitter Shukri Abdi. "He's worried his mother might never come home."

 

In Kenya, eight weeks after her passport was confiscated, the woman remains confined to her hotel with no travel papers and no money to pay police bribes if she is stopped without them.

 

"It's too scary for me to go downstairs now," said the woman identifying herself as Suaad Hagi Mohamud. "I'm broke. I have no visa, no nothing. If I'm stopped they will take me to the jail."

 

Her calls to the Canadian High Commission went unreturned again yesterday, she said.

 

Ottawa officials refused to answer questions in a case that, from the outside, looks easy to resolve.

 

"If this were Somalia or some place else in Africa, we would understand," said North York Community House worker Maryan Ali, who is offering what support she can. "But this is unacceptable."

 

Mohamud, originally from Somalia, is waiting for fingerprint tests to confirm her identity.

 

She was returning to Toronto from Kenya eight weeks ago when a customs agent said she didn't look like her passport photo.

 

She spent eight days in jail before being released on bail.

 

"I asked her, 'How's the jail?' " recalled Abdi, tears welling in her eyes.

 

"She told me, 'I don't want to talk about it.' "

 

A working mother caring for five children of her own, Abdi agreed to look after Mohamed for three weeks and has now had him for more than two months.

 

The stranded woman's passport was voided on May 28 by the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi. She pleaded to have her fingerprints taken, which finally happened last Thursday, she said.

 

All that foreign affairs officers in Ottawa have said publicly is that the woman is not the rightful owner of the passport she was carrying.

 

But there remain several unanswered questions: Who is the woman, if not Mohamud? Is she Canadian? Why are they not returning her calls? And how much longer will it take to get fingerprint results?

 

Ali said the case has attracted attention in the Somali community, and vowed to go to Ottawa to speak out on Mohamud's behalf.

 

Toronto Star

Poor boy. Eebba ha u sahlo inay hooyadiis usoo noqoto and this ordeal dhameeyo -- aamiin.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

While a wannabe "Canadian" rants and shares her Rush Limbaugh-like views without an iota of shamefulness on this thread (big surprise, I won't name), here is what a real Canadian writes on the newspaper's site:

 

Here's the text of the email I sent to my Federal MP...why don't you do the same

 

As a voter , I don’t usually request anything of my MP - however, for the first time I feel myself stirred into action by the

following article

.

 

As an immigrant myself, I can well believe the runaround this woman is getting from the Canadian High Commission in Kenya. To my mind, it's a very simple matter to prove someones identity - fingerprints and DNA are standard tests, and it would seem that the local High Commission was pretty arbitrary in their action in revoking this woman's passport and putting her through all sorts of hell as a result. If she proves to be an imposter, case closed. If not, it behoves the Canadian Govt to resolve the issue and apologise to the woman fairly promptly. I would like to ask that you take some action to ensure an active followup by the High Commisssion staff in Kenya on this particular issue.

NB -- Toronto Star is not a tabloid paper.

[LayZie G.]

^you won't name her because you fear her, its that simple. On the other hand, I fear no one and I can name you a thousand times but tell me, did eebe tell you that I was a" wanna be canadian"? And what exactly is wannabe? I'm either a Canadian or I'm not, no in between.

 

Your bit of wadno jileec and the letter has inspired me to write to my mp and encourage him to get involved in immigration policies and bring about harsher penalties, so the next timE you are stopped at the border because you have been suspected of carrying double identity, you won't be allowed to re-enter. Besides, how do you explain your devotion to this lady's case? Perhaps you identify with her and you feel she was dealt a bad card, soo maaha?

 

BTW, of all the things to comment about, why didn't you address the points I raised about the case, better yet, why dont you be more useful else wherE? say, lending a hand to the refugees etc?

 

PS: Re-read my previous post and pay attention to the part where I did not mention the star but the sun....and while you are at it, why dont you get to know the paper you read daily? A hardcore left leaning paper, who threw their journalistics standards out of the window and whose judgement is questionable should not be the trusted source. For all we know they may have rushed to publish the story as a way to beat our outlets, and if thats the case and this woman is fraud, it just discredits the paper even more. Heck, toronto sun has better standards than the star, and the sun is a tabloid paper....

 

In any case, if it ain't global and mail, it aint my cup of tea Senor MMA

[Che -Guevara]

^which means this , which means that,alot assumptions..Present facts or let it go.

 

Remember a bit of mercy never hurts!!