Refugee claimant who has previously lived in Chicago and Dubai plays the "honour killing "card in order to remain in Canada

Jordanian mom hiding in Toronto after deportation order

First posted: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 07:14 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 07:22 PM EDT

Abeer Hassan Al Rifaee, 32, on the run, but believed to be in Toronto with her sons, claiming she will be subject of “honour killing” if deported to Jordan for converting family from Islam to Christianity. Jordanian community claim leaving Islam one of worst crimes in Jordan and she can be stoned to death.

TORONTO – A Jordanian mom of two now hiding in the Toronto-area claims she will be the victim of an “honour killing” if deported to Amman.

She says that is the punishment that awaits for converting her family from Islam to Christianity.

Abeer Hassan Al Rifaee, 32, has been on the run with Mohamed, 10, and Saleem, 8, since March 29 when a warrant was issued for her arrest by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for not showing up for removal.

Jordanian community and church leaders in Toronto said converting to Christianity from Islam is one of the worst crimes in that country. As a penalty Al Rifaee can be stoned to death.

“I am very scared for my life and that of my children,” Al Rifaee told the Sun from a Toronto-area hideout. “My kids haven’t been going to school and we are scared to leave the apartment.”

The family seldom venture outside fearing they’ll be scooped and placed on a flight home.

“We are very terrified for our lives,” she said on Wednesday. “The kids like me are terrified of being tortured and forced to re-convert to Islam.”

Al Rifaee, her estranged husband, and their sons, arrived here from Dubai in February 2009 as visitors and filed refugee claims that were turned down in March 2011. Subsequent appeals were also denied.

They had previously lived in Chicago for five years and her sons were born there.

Al Rifaee’s refugee claim was tossed out due to credibility issues and she had returned to Jordan four or five times after alleging she’ll be killed there, a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board ruled.

Shakeil Boothe was found without vital signs at a Brampton home on May 27 last year and was declared dead a short time later.

Parents face first-degree murder charges in Brampton boy’s death
Published On Thu, 17 May 2012

Shakeil Boothe was found without vital signs at a Brampton home on May 27 last year and was declared dead a short time later.
The Canadian Press

A couple accused in the death of a 10-year-old boy are now facing upgraded charges of first-degree murder.

Police say the boy’s father Garfield Boothe and stepmother Nichelle Boothe-Rowe appeared in a Brampton court Thursday for the start of their preliminary hearing.

Both were formally charged with the upgraded counts.

Shakeil Boothe was found without vital signs at a Brampton home on May 27 last year and was declared dead a short time later.

Garfield Boothe was originally charged with failing to provide the necessities of life but that charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder.

Nichelle Boothe-Rowe was previously facing a manslaughter charge.

Source: 2006 Public Use Microdata File, Statistics Canada.

Pakistani-Canadians: Falling below the poverty line
Murtaza Haider | 1 day ago

Pakistan-born immigrants are the new face of poverty in urban Canada. The Canadian census revealed that 44 per cent of Pakistan-born immigrants fell below the poverty line making them the second most poverty prone group of immigrants in Canada.

While they may project an aura of opulence during their visits back home, their life in Canada, however, is often full of struggle and frustration. Thousands of Pakistani trained engineers, doctors, and PhDs are driving taxis or are working as security guards in large cities. In fact, one in three taxi-drivers in Canada was born in either India or Pakistan. Several others are unemployed thus becoming a burden on Canadian taxpayers.

The latest Census data for income for 2005 revealed that Pakistan-born immigrants reported the second highest incidence for the low-income cut-off, a proxy for poverty line in Canada. In comparison, only 18 per cent of India-born immigrants in Canada reported being a low-income person or belonging to a low-income economic family. Immigrants born in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy and Germany reported the lowest incidence of poverty in Canada.

Source: 2006 Public Use Microdata File, Statistics Canada.

Unlike in the Middle East where the Arab governments do not allow assimilation of migrant workers, the Canadian government and the society to a large extent does not create systematic barriers that may limit the immigrants’ ability to succeed and assimilate in Canada. This is not to suggest that immigrants face no barriers at all in Canada. They in fact do. For instance, Pakistan-trained doctors cannot practice medicine without completing further training in Canada. The shorter duration of medical training in Pakistan necessitates the additional certification for doctors. Engineering graduates from Pakistan, however, face no such barrier because the engineering curriculum and the duration of training in Pakistan is similar to that in Canada.

Despite the opportunities (and constraints), Pakistani-Canadians have not prospered as much as immigrants from other countries have. In 2005, wages earned by Pakistan-born immigrants were on average 70 per cent of the wages earned by those born in Canada. In comparison, wages earned by the India-born immigrants were 86 per cent of the wages earned by Canadians. At the same time, immigrants born in America earned 20 per cent more in wages than those born in Canada. Similarly, UK-born immigrants also reported on average higher wages than that of Canadian-born.

Two men accused of organizing the MV Sun Sea's journey to Canada appear in B.C. Provincial Court in Vancouver on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. It was their first appearance on that charge. Lesly Jana Emmanuel is on the left, with Kunarobinson Christhurajah seated beside him. Jane Wolsak

Men charged with helping to organize MV Sun Sea voyage appear in court
SUNNY DHILLON
VANCOUVER— From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 9:00PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 9:09PM EDT

Dressed in red prison-issued clothing, listening intently as a Tamil interpreter translated the proceedings, two men charged with helping organize the MV Sun Sea’s voyage into Canada made a brief appearance in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Kunarobinson Christhurajah and Lesly Jana Emmanuel were each charged this week with one count of organizing entry into Canada contrary to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Both men face penalties of life in prison and/or a $1-million fine.

Mr. Christhurajah and Mr. Emmanuel did not address the court during their first appearance Wednesday. The men stood behind a glass barrier in the prisoner’s box and followed the hearing through the interpreter. They remain in custody and will be back in court June 5 for a bail hearing.

The kirpan, which is a stylized representation of a sword, will be allowed in public areas of Toronto courthouses subject to certain conditions.

The kirpan, the Sikh ceremonial dagger

Sikhs’ ceremonial daggers now allowed in Toronto courthouses

Published On Wed, 16 May 2012

Curtis Rush
Police Reporter

Toronto has become the first city in Canada to develop a formal policy allowing Sikhs to bring their ceremonial daggers into its courthouses.

The kirpan, which is a stylized representation of a sword, will be allowed in public areas of Toronto courthouses subject to certain conditions.

For instance, the court officer must be informed the person is a Khalsa Sikh, which is an initiated Sikh, and that they are carrying a kirpan.

Trevor Edwards pleaded guilty in Newmarket court Monday to a dozen charges, including extortion, unlawful confinement, obstructing a police officer and assault.

Tarantino-esque chase ends in guilty plea
Published On Mon, 14 May 2012

Trevor Edwards pleaded guilty in Newmarket court Monday to a dozen charges, including extortion, unlawful confinement, obstructing a police officer and assault.
Peter Edwards
Staff Reporter

Trevor Samuel Edwards’ life was playing out like a Quentin Tarantino movie.

The Markham man was driving hard in July 2010, trying to catch up with his former lover, who had fled him at the wheel of his black C Class Mercedes.

Making her flight all the more troubling for Edwards, 42, was the fact that he had stashed $50,000 cash in a shoebox in the Mercedes’ trunk before she hit the road.