Our Team in the Media
Rachel Bryce- Canada doesn’t appear to have a plan to welcome climate migrants
Growing up in Ghana, Jamima Baada watched her community, including members of her own family, migrate from one region to another less impacted by climate change. Now she teaches climate change and human migration at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Jemima Baada teaches at ...
Landings LLP is pleased to be recognized on the Globe and Mail’s list of “Canada’s Best Law Firms” for 2023
This recognition is a testament to the hard work of each individual on the Landings team towards servicing our clients and the firm. Every person on our team contributes towards the firm's achievements -- we are proud of what Landings has accomplished in two years and excited ...
Erin Simpson – How long will Canada make this Afghan boy wait for a family reunion?
As the nine-year-old boy was shoved and pushed by the sea of desperate people behind him, his head kept turning, looking back for his parents and two younger brothers as they fell further and further behind him. When Hadisullhaq Afghanfar finally got past the front ...
Erin Simpson – ‘I’m hoping they hear my voice’: 14-year-old Afghan boy renews plea for help from Canada
A 14-year-old boy from Afghanistan is renewing his desperate plea made to the Canadian government last year as his family awaits further instruction regarding their immigration application. Last August, as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the boy, who CTV News Toronto is not identifying ...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Repatriating Afghan Refugees in the Midst of Catastrophe
The 9/11 attacks in the United States in September 2001 thrust Afghanistan to the forefront of what was declared to be the ‘war against terrorism’. The country was already languishing for more than two decades of conflict arising from the Soviet-Afghan War that forced millions of Afghans to seek refuge in ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Sarina Faizy was overjoyed when Canada evacuated her family from Afghanistan. Now she fears her father may be deported.
Sarina Faizy breathed a massive sigh of relief when her family was evacuated from Afghanistan almost six months ago after urging the Canadian government to help. But now she's confused and afraid because her father, who has been housed in a Toronto hotel since August, ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Afghan athletes who thought they were headed for Canada plead with Ottawa: ‘Don’t break our hearts’
A star of Afghanistan's national women's basketball team thought she would be in Canada by now, building a new life with her family after they were forced to flee their old one. Instead, they're stuck living in a northern Albania hotel, mired in uncertainty. Dozens of ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Owner of Kabul law firm that worked for Canadian Embassy pleads for help for employees left behind
Saeeq Shajjan's law firm in Kabul spent the past eight years working as the local legal team for the Canadian Embassy in Afghanistan. But with about two dozen of his employees still stuck in the Taliban-held country, Shajjan said the Canadian government is now ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Memo to the new cabinet: Canada must meet the moment in Afghanistan
Imagine that you are a female judge in Afghanistan at this very moment: having gone from being in the epicenter of justice just a few months ago to a basement hideaway trying not to breathe too loudly. You are now hunted by the Taliban, by ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen & Rachel Bryce – Climate migration is already happening – Canada must lead in developing a coherent response
Representatives from much of the world gathered in Glasgow to discuss how to respond to the existential impacts of climate change. COP26 brought with it a heightened sense of urgency and the destructive effects of climate change can no longer be ignored, even for the ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – « J’ai pu fuir, mais je recommence tout à zéro » : une juge afghane en exil se confie
Tayeba Parsa fait partie des rares femmes juges à avoir réussi à quitter Kaboul après l’arrivée des talibans. Elle vit depuis en Europe de l’Est, ignorant ce que l’avenir lui réserve. Dans un témoignage exclusif, elle replonge dans les souvenirs de son périple mouvementé et ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Is it time for Canada to open its doors to climate migrants?
As huge swathes of the world become uninhabitable due to rising heat, a group of refugee lawyers say Canada could become an important oasis. In February 2021, Ana Hernandez stood on the south bank of the Rio Grande River cradling her two-year-old son as they ...
Erin Simpson – “I defied the Taliban, and now my family is in grave danger”
On the morning they left, my elderly parents, older brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece all watched as their neighbours packed up cars filled with clothes, food and water. Women frantically urged their children into waiting cars, their faces veiled and bodies engulfed by sky-blue burkas...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Lawyers speaking for the ignored during the pandemic
While the many negative impacts of the pandemic are obvious, including lives and livelihoods lost, others are not as visible. In this issue, we spoke with a few lawyers who are working to change that...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – The path to Canadian immigration has gotten a bit bumpy with COVID-19
For at least some would-be immigrants to Canada, there was a bit of good news announced in mid-February. The federal government said that it sent invitations to 27,300 candidates to apply for permanent resident status under the Canadian Experience Class category, giving them 90 days ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Why Canada needs to think about accepting climate change refugees
As countries around the world wrestle with the growing impacts of global warming — including fires, droughts and rising sea levels — there's one that critics say Canada is failing to properly consider: climate change refugees...
Recent Developments
Recent Decisions
Kuka v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 209 In Kuka v. Canada (MCI) Justice Favel examined the Applicant’s refused Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) and Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) application decisions, made by the same Senior Immigration Officer. The Applicant feared persecution from her and her ex-fiancé’s ...
Recent Decisions
Torres v. Canada (MPSEP) 2024 CanLII 7632 In Torres v. Canada (MPSEP) Justice Southcott examined the Applicant’s stay of removal request. The Applicant claimed asylum in Canada, in part due to his bisexual orientation. Unfortunately, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) rejected his claim, finding that ...
Recent Decisions
Munir v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 153 In Munir v. Canada (MCI) Justice Tsimberis assessed the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The RAD determined that the Applicant failed to a) establish his bisexuality; b) that he was ever in a same-sex relationship; c) that ...
Recent Decisions
Abdallah Elnour El Senoussi c. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 74 In Abdallah Elnour El Senoussi c. Canada (MCI) Justice Pentney examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant, a citizen of Chad, was granted refugee status in 2012 and secured permanent resident status in 2015. The ...
Recent Decisions
Gayle v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 29 In Gayle v. Canada (MCI) Justice Turley examined the Applicant’s Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) decision. The Applicant was a Jamaican national who entered Canada in 2019 to help care for her daughter. The child’s father was deceased. In ...
Recent Decisions
Porosh v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1638 In Porosh v. Canada (MCI) Justice Go examined the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The Applicant sought asylum on the basis of alleged danger due to a land disputed between his family and a family who was ...
Recent Decisions
Taji v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1587 In Taji v. Canada (MCI), Justice Norris examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was a citizen of Iran who had successfully claimed asylum in 2011 and obtained permanent residence in 2012. Shortly after obtaining permanent residence, the ...
Recent Decisions
Abkarovicova v. Canada (MPSEP) 2023 FC 1546 In Abkarovicova v. Canada (MPSEP), Justice Southcott examined the Applicants’ vacation decision. The principal applicant (PA) and her children were citizens of Slovakia. At the time of the original refugee determination, all three children were minors. The Applicants ...
Recent Decisions
Canada (MPSEP) v. Ewen 2023 FCA 225 In Canada (MPSEP) v. Ewen, Justices de Montigny C.J., Goyette, and Heckman JJ.A. examined the Respondent’s rejected request for a deferral of removal. The Respondent had filed an application for leave of the negative decision, as well as ...
Recent Decisions
Maan v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1434 In Maan v. Canada (MCI), Justice Rochester examined the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The determinative issue for both the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the RAD was credibility. The Applicant had testified that she was released ...
Recent Decisions
Edirimanna v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1339 In Edirimanna v. Canada (MCI) Justice Turley reviewed the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) had ceased his Convention refugee status on the grounds of reavailment. On judicial review, Justice Turley found that the RPD had ...
Recent Decisions
Begum v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1317 In Begum v. Canada (MCI) Justice Elliott reviewed the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was a Pakistani citizen who was granted refugee protection in 2012 based on her Ahmadi Muslim faith. In 2014 and 2018 the Applicant applied ...
Recent Decisions
Mason v. Canada (MCI) 2023 SCC 21 In Mason v. Canada (MCI), Justice Wagner C.J., Karakatsanis, Côté, Rowe, Martin, Kasirer, Jamal, and O’Bonsawin J.J. explored the statutory interpretation of provisions under s.34(1)(e) of IRPA. Under this provision, permanent residents and foreign nationals are found inadmissible ...
Recent Decisions
Anvar v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1194 In Anvar v. Canada (MCI), Justice Go examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was found to be a convention refugee in 2005 and resettled in Canada in 2006. In 2022, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) had found ...
Recent Decisions
St. Brice v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1139 In St. Brice v. Canada (MCI), Justice Régimbald reviewed the Applicant’s Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) decision. The Applicant was a 31-year-old bisexual man, with a cognitive impairment, who feared persecution in St. Lucia due to his sexual ...
Recent Decisions
Ahmad v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1087 In Ahmad v. Canada (MCI), Justice Southcott examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was granted asylum in 2010 and permanent resident status in 2011. Since then, the Applicant was issued two Pakistani passports and travelled to said ...