Border Services red faced after imprisoned Canadian proves ID

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

This story is a total embarassment. The high commission dropped the ball on this one and if anyone thinks that racial profiling wasn't involved they're just kidding themselves.

So, the black Kenyans, who staff the Canadian High Commission office in Kenya, racially profiled a fellow black Kenyan? I guess the Commission official was from the Kikuyu tribe and the victim was a Luo...

[Hack&Lube]

Where does the Bribe come into the story? Or was that just a joke by Vlad.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Where does the Bribe come into the story? Or was that just a joke by Vlad.

Just a joke/theory.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

That's just the way things work in Kenya - I'm not endorsing it by any means.

T.I.A

[starseed]

Actually, it sounds like Vlad was right.


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/0...ssport492.html

"My Canadian High Commission told me that I'm an imposter," Mohamud told CBC News on Tuesday. "They wouldn't believe me. Of course, I'm mad at them."
Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Tracie LeBlanc said Tuesday work is being done to issue Mohamud travel documents for her return to Canada now that DNA tests have proven her identity. LeBlanc declined to specify if that included an emergency passport.
Mohamud's ordeal began when Kenyan immigration officials said her facial features looked the same, but her lips looked different than those of the person in the four-year-old Canadian passport photo, according to a document from Kenyan authorities.
The High Commission of Canada in Nairobi confiscated her passport, told Kenyan government officials a thorough investigation determined Mohamud was an imposter and recommended that she be prosecuted.
Mohamud, who was born in Somalia, has said that she lost a lot of weight in the four years since her passport photo was taken. She showed the Kenyans other pieces of Canadian identification and offered to be fingerprinted. But she was charged with identity fraud and spent eight days in jail before she was released on bail.
Mohamud alleges she was being pushed to offer bribe money to be allowed to get on the plane to return home and she refused to pay.

It may not have been racial profiling on the part of the front line workers (who knows?) but I would not rule out it being a factor in the government not doing anything to rectify the situation until now. Like I touched on before, Jason Kenney visited Brenda Martin in her Mexico jail. They seemed to do everything they could to release her even though she was guilty of money laundering. Suaad was not guilty of anything, and did not get near enough support from the government even now. We hear nothing from officials about this other than that they are making up her travel documents.

[zuluking]

Originally Posted by starseed

It may not have been racial profiling on the part of the front line workers (who knows?) but I would not rule out it being a factor in the government not doing anything to rectify the situation until now. Like I touched on before, Jason Kenney visited Brenda Martin in her Mexico jail. They seemed to do everything they could to release her even though she was guilty of money laundering. Suaad was not guilty of anything, and did not get near enough support from the government even now. We hear nothing from officials about this other than that they are making up her travel documents.

Enough about Brenda Martin and how quick her situation was addressed. She remained in custody awaiting disposition of her case for two years!!! Then she went to trial and was convicted. THEN Canada intervened. She also maintained her innocence throughout.

[Hack&Lube]

If I were a betting man, I'd definetely say that in Africa, corruption and bribes would be the reason for this situation over that of racial profiling.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

So, the black Kenyans, who staff the Canadian High Commission office in Kenya, racially profiled a fellow black Kenyan? I guess the Commission official was from the Kikuyu tribe and the victim was a Luo...

It may not have been racial profiling on the part of the front line workers (who knows?) but I would not rule out it being a factor in the government not doing anything to rectify the situation until now.

This.


I think the front line worker was looking for a bribe and didn't get one. When it went to the high commission and they rejected it.

This is a quote

"The Canadian government later wrote to the Kenyan government informing officials there that it had done a thorough investigation and determined her to be an imposter and recommended that she be prosecuted."

The Canadian Government, not the Kenyan/Canadian officials in Kenya. If her name was Joanne Smith I think things would have played out much differently.

[VladtheImpaler]

Ok, so let's summarize this... A Kenyan flunkie working for Canada in Nairobi saw an opportunity to make a buck, the vic (despite being Kenyan, and knowing how things work there) refused to play ball, the flunkie said "oh yeah...", and fun ensued. I wager nobody at Foreign Affairs knew anything about this until it hit the papers. So, what we have is a typical Kenyan employee acting in a typical Kenyan manner. This is just a tempest in a teapot, blown up by the Liberal/NDP mouth-piece (The Star) to embarass the Tories. Poor hiring practices? Certainly. Huge national embarassment or racism? Not a chance. Unfortunately, we can't afford to staff all our world outposts entirely with Canadians; we have to hire Russians, Kenyans, etc to meet our staffing needs. Those people tend to act like the rest of their countrymen, for better or worse...

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

This.


I think the front line worker was looking for a bribe and didn't get one. When it went to the high commission and they rejected it.

This is a quote

"The Canadian government later wrote to the Kenyan government informing officials there that it had done a thorough investigation and determined her to be an imposter and recommended that she be prosecuted."

The Canadian Government, not the Kenyan/Canadian officials in Kenya. If her name was Joanne Smith I think things would have played out much differently.

Except that the Canadian official who wrote has an Arabic name, and they just probably responded based on the local report. Just bureacracy in action.

[Devils'Advocate]

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/679686

Just because it is the Star, it doesn't invalidate the facts of the case.

And yes, there is corruption everywhere in Africa... you need to bribe everyone for everything. However, I would suggest that if someone is being abused by authorities, particularly authorities representing CANADA, then I think the Foreign Affairs minister should be taking them to task, not defending their abuses.