Eden Zebene has been living in Ottawa since she left Ethiopia in February 2021. The 23-year-old is waiting for her case to be heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada — the final step before becoming a protected person and applying for permanent residence ( PR ). “I was very depressed… because I have nothing to do here. I always stay at home. I can’t study or I can’t [work],” he said. “I want to change myself. My life.” After 16 months of pleading with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to advance her case by phone, email, in person and through her lawyer, Zebene had her eligibility interview in late July – a step that applicants to get work and study permits. Although still without a study permit, she finally got her work permit this month, giving her a glimmer of hope — only to find it expired on the same day it was issued: August 6, 2022. “I feel very disappointed. I was very humiliated. I thought that nobody cares about me in this country,” said an emotional Zebene. She described experiencing serious mental health effects as a result of IRCC’s delays and the error in her case. “I cried a lot.” The CBC reached out to Immigration Canada for comment on Tuesday about Zebene’s situation and did not receive a response by deadline. This month, Zebene got her work permit. This copy he is holding shows it was issued on August 6, 2022 and expires on the same date. (Buntola Nou/CBC) Zeben said her family was violently attacked in Ethiopia’s Oromia region and said her home and business were burned. She has been arrested, beaten, insulted, threatened and sexually assaulted by Ethiopian security forces because of her Amhara nationality and political beliefs in the past, her IRCC submission says. Areas in northern Ethiopia have been embroiled in conflict since the start of a civil war in November 2020, where all sides have been accused of atrocities. Although there are no official government figures, it is estimated that thousands of Amharas have been killed and millions displaced. “I was afraid for my life,” Zeben said. “If I go back, they will abuse me, hold me, kill me, torture me.” Zebene shared a video of her family’s burning home and business. That’s a lot of highlights from this video. (Submitted by Eden Zebene) Now safe in Canada, he dreams of studying computer science at a university in Ottawa and working part-time, but without valid licenses and a social security number he can’t. She’s also pregnant and had a health problem a few months ago — but has only been able to access basic care at a walk-in clinic under her temporary federal health coverage as she waits to be eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Program. Zebene tried several times to contact IRCC to correct her recent mistake on her work permit, to no avail. “I am young and I believe I can do a lot for this country and for myself,” she said. “Please do something and help me.” Zebene says she experienced physical and sexual abuse in Ethiopia. She holds a copy of her work permit in front of an IRCC office in Ottawa. He sent the original back, hoping the government would fix its mistake quickly so he could get to work. (Buntola Nou/CBC)
‘All her dreams … shattered’: wife
Tizazu Yamitu said it was difficult to watch his wife struggle. “It was [a] very traumatic experience,” he said. “This bureaucratic process, it had drained her of her energy and her motivation… All her dreams, you know, basically crumbled before her eyes.” He wonders how such a “trivial mistake” could be made in an important document. Yamitu, who was also a refugee claimant in 2017, is calling on IRCC to properly train its employees, to correct mistakes quickly and for immigration officials to empathize with applicants. “They must think it’s like deciding someone’s fate, you know?” he said. “It’s completely unthinkable to think that these kinds of mistakes would happen.” Not knowing when she will receive a refugee board hearing, Yamitu is asking IRCC to fast-track her spousal sponsorship application for Zebene, which they submitted two months ago. This is another road the couple has taken to look for Zebene’s permanent home. Zebene, left, and her husband Tizazu Yamitu. Yamitu was also a refugee claimant in 2017. He says seeing his wife wait so long for her case to proceed is painful. (Submitted by Eden Zebene)
The longest wait the refugee lawyer has seen
Zebene’s lawyer, Teklemichael Sahlemariam, who practices refugee law, said her 16-month wait for an eligibility interview is the longest he has ever seen among his clients. “It’s not normal,” he said. Sahlemariam said he actually recommends his clients in Ottawa change their address to Toronto if possible to avoid delays. “This happens a lot to my clients in Ottawa, actually,” said the Toronto-based lawyer. “Too late.” Sahlemariam has also never seen IRCC expire someone’s work permit on the same day it was issued. but a week before she learned about Zebene’s expired license, she saw an email from another attorney whose client experienced something similar. “This kind of technical failure can happen. I’m not surprised by that,” he said, adding that it should be an easy fix for IRCC. “What really bothers me, probably, is the time it took her to get that work permit.” WATCHES | The lawyer says he is concerned about the client’s long wait time:
Refugee claimant forced to rely on welfare due to work permit delay, lawyer says
Eden Zebene, a refugee claimant from Ethiopia, finally received her work permit after an 18-month delay, only to find it expired the same day it was issued. Her attorney, Tecklemichael Sahlemariam, says many of his other clients are also seeing delays. Sahlemariam, who is also Ethiopian, said what Zebene experienced in her home country was traumatic and she is stunned that it has taken so long for her case to move forward as there is strong documentation of her persecution in Ethiopia. “She wanted to be productive, give back to the community, pay taxes, but she’s been forced to rely on social assistance and that’s because of problems beyond her control,” he said.
