A Saskatoon woman accused of adultery in her home country has been deported to her native Pakistan.
Jamila Bibi broke down in loud sobs at the Saskatoon airport Tuesday, as her journey out of the country began.
Her supporters have been working to stop her deportation, saying the 65-year-old could be stoned to death once she returns to Pakistan.
Bibi openly wept as she said her good-byes early Tuesday morning before being placed on a flight from Saskatoon to Toronto.
After a layover in Toronto, Bibi was flown out to Pakistan Tuesday afternoon. Her supporters are still hoping for a last-minute intervention from Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney to halt the deportation.
Bibi's lawyer, Bashir Khan, says his client fled to Canada in 2007 after she was falsely accused of adultery. He said the case stems from a land dispute in which she was awarded property over her husband’s family, who then made the accusations as a way of getting back at her.
Khan said the Canadian government has decided Bibi can move elsewhere in Pakistan, despite also acknowledging that she is at risk from both individuals and state authorities in the country.
“Except that makes no sense to me because the criminal charge is outstanding and she’s a target of honour killing,” Khan told CTV News Channel. “She will be. She’s received threats already.”
A deportation was originally ordered for Bibi in 2011, after her bid to secure refugee status was rejected.
Khan took Bibi's case to the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which ordered the Canadian government to stop Bibi's deportation until it could review her case.
But Bibi was recently detained under federal orders and on Monday, a Federal Court of Canada judge rejected her application to stay the deportation. The court ordered Bibi's immediate removal from the country.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said Canada has a “fair and generous” asylum system governed by an independent board. During the House of Commons question period Tuesday, he said claims are decided on facts, not political pressure.
“And where claims fail, there is recourse to appeals,” he said. “When those appeals are exhausted, we all expect failed claimants to leave this country.”
Melissa Anderson, a spokesperson for the Immigration Refugee Board of Canada, told CTV Saskatoon that Bibi was detained because Canada Border Services Agency "felt she was unlikely to appear for her scheduled removal from Canada."
Bibi speaks no English and has been working at a small Saskatoon restaurant for the last six months. Her boss and friend, Sahana Yeasmin, told CTV that Bibi’s "situation back home is very bad."
"I know my life would be in danger if I am sent back and I would rather to have peaceful death here than be killed for something that I did not do," Bibi had written in a letter to the UN.
Amnesty International is also urging the Canadian government to reconsider the deportation, saying the work of the UN body should be completed before the Canadian government makes any final decisions.
"There’s no way that Canada would want to be responsible for returning a woman back to a country where her rights could be violated," Gloria Nafziger, an Amnesty International refugee co-ordinator, told CTV.
"It makes it harder for Canada to be an advocate for human rights if it is found to be failing itself."
With a report from CTV Saskatoon’s Angelina Irinici and files from The Canadian Press
