Earlier this year, Canadian authorities ordered Kenyan preacher Rosalind Wanyeki, known as Reverend Hadassah, and her two young daughters to leave Toronto. They granted her extra time so the girls could finish the school year.
That grace period has now ended. On Wednesday, a Canadian judge rejected their final asylum appeal. The ruling cleared the way for deportation.
Officials scheduled the family to leave yesterday on an Ethiopian Airlines flight through Addis Ababa. They expected them to arrive in Nairobi this afternoon.
Wanyeki says she fled torture in Kenya in 2020. She built a new life in Toronto and runs a gospel ministry. Her daughters, aged nine and six, have only known Canada as home.
Speaking from a Canada Border Services Agency detention centre, Wanyeki said her children feel scared and confused. “They don’t know why they have to leave the city,” she told CTV News Toronto.
She said she contacted her local MP for help but received no meaningful support. “I had my church, my business, and my kids here. I’ve come all this way, and now I’m told to go back. If you want me to go back to Kenya, honestly, kill me here,” she said tearfully.
Authorities have not made the reasons for the deportation public. In Canada, immigration officials can deport someone after a rejected asylum claim, a finding of inadmissibility, or proof of false information.
Her case has drawn public attention. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition to stop the deportation. Supporters say the girls would suffer trauma if forced to move to a country they do not know. They describe Wanyeki as a pillar of the immigrant community who helps others escape religious persecution.
