Canadian immigration minister steps in to save family

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has used his discretionary powers to save a Guinean family living in Montréal from deportation.

Canada visa

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney stepped in to prevent the Mansare family from being deported to Guinea.

Mr Kenney has discretionary powers to overrule court orders for deportation and, while his office confirmed he had prevented Canadian immigration authorities from proceeding with the expulsion, no reason was given.

Keita Mansare and two of her five children were scheduled to be deported on Sunday with the remaining children joining them in Guinea on Tuesday. Ms Mansare had asked Mr Kenney to halt the deportation after a Federal Court judge denied their official appeal.

Ms Mansare was concerned her daughters would be subjected to forced marriages and genital mutilation should they be returned to Guinea, which has the fifth-highest rate of genital mutilation in the world with over 40% of women being forced into the procedure.

Ms Mansare and her family arrived in Canada in 2007 and applied for asylum on humanitarian grounds. The stay of deportation means their asylum case will be re-evaluated and the family has every chance of being granted a Canada visa.

"I'm really happy and I don't know how to thank [Mr Kenney] and the people of Canada," said Zenab Mansare, one of Keita's daughters.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their application to the Canadian Embassy.