A BC climate activist born in Pakistaní is preparing to leave his adoptive home after a failed attempt to stop a deportation order, with his lawyer saying that the movement is hard and unjustified.
Zain Haq, 24, was ordered last year by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) about alleged violations of his study permit, related to his academic progress. The order also followed Haq’s arrest in Save Old Growth and Extinction Rebellion Protests in 2021 and 2022.
Haq declared himself guilty of five prank charges in the protests, but the courts did not consider a violent criminal.
The deportation order was initially canceled as Haq’s wife, Sophia Papp, requested to sponsor him as a permanent resident, and the objective of granting humanitarian and compassionate considerations.
But the authorities denied the application for conjugal sponsorship and, according to HAQ, they lost a separate request that made for temporary residence in October.
The activist’s lawyer said that officials have not allowed due process to take its course in the case of HAQ deportation.
When CBC News spoke with Haq on Saturday morning, he was packing his bags and preparing to go to Pakistan. His wife’s marital sponsorship was denied on Thursday.
“The elimination was restarted when nobody was looking at,” said Haq about the deportation order. “And I think it’s a clear case to point.”
He has received support waves from climatic activists on the legal saga, even from the leader of the green party Elizabeth May.
“I think this deportation will be seen as an aggravating factor in the general lack of response to address the climatic crisis as the main cities in North America are burning,” said Haq.
An immigration spokesman, refugees and citizenship of Canada (IRCC) refused to comment on the case, citing privacy legislation.
The lawyer alleges errors in the application
Haq arrived in Canada to study at the Simon Fraser University of BC (SFU) in 2019, and had been working for a specialty in history.
But when his attention focused on climate activism and non -violent civil disobedience, including the co -foundation of the Save Old Growth environmental group, CBSA began investigating its academic progress. In 2022, the agency determined that Haq had violated his study permit by not making enough progress.
While he had been on academic probation at one time, Haq said that Sfu supported him continuing his studies.
And although his guilty statement of non -violent positions may have made it inadmissible for Canada, the PAPP spouse sponsor, if he succeeds, would have overcome that problem.
But now the couple, who met through climate activism, will probably have to re -apply to the permanent Canadian residence of Pakistan, a process that could have been successful for several years.
“I am overwhelmed and intimate, but I know that Zain’s family in Pakistan will welcome me,” said Papp, saying that she would stay with her husband in the process.
Randall Cohn, Haq’s lawyer, said there is a precedent in Canada for conjugal sponsorship for humanitarian reasons, to allow the family to stay together.
“Unless there is a last minute intervention by the Minister of Imigration or the Minister of Public Security, then Zain will have to leave Canada,” Cohn told CBC News. “It is not clear when, or yes, you can return.”
Cohn said IRCC apparently lost the request for temporary residence of HAQ, which meant that he could not stay in Canada after the permanent residence application was denied.
“It seems that there have been some errors, if not some improperity, in terms of how it has been processed from the beginning,” said the lawyer.
“When there is an appearance of such things, then I believe that the judicious, prudent and responsible action of the government would be to reduce the speed and say: ‘Make sure we are doing it correctly.”
Cohn said the government’s responsibility would be to weigh the potential risk for HAQ to remain against the potential damage to be deported.
“The damage when eliminating it is tearing this family,” he said.
“He is losing the opportunity to have a really promising and galvanizing figure in the climate movement to be able to stay here and do his job in Canada.”
