Somali who swam river to enter Canada granted refugee status

A Somali man who fled kidnappers in his home country and crossed three continents before arriving in Winnipeg has learned he will be allowed to make a new home in Canada.

On Wednesday, an immigration board granted Yahya Samatar refugee status, allowing him to feel safe for the first time in more than a year.

Samatar is a human rights worker and journalist who made headlines this summer when he was found trying to swim across the frigid and dangerous waters of the Red River. Samatar was found on the shores of the river in Emerson, Man., which he mistakenly thought marked the border between the U.S. and Canada.

By the time he was found, Samatar had already been on the run for more than a year. He had been forced to flee Somalia after escaping a prison run by al-Shabaab, a militant group linked to al Qaeda. Samatar told CTV Morning Live Thursday his captors had held him in a tiny cell with no room to move.

“I was in a prison, a very dark, small cell for three months,” he said.

When his captors had to abandon their post during fighting, Samatar was able to escape. But fearing for his life, he left his wife and children behind and paid smugglers to take him to Ethiopia.

From there, he travelled to Brazil, hiking his way through the jungle into Central America, Mexico and finally in the U.S. But after trying to seek refugee status in Texas, immigration authorities locked him up in a detention centre for six months.

His refugee application was rejected and he was released to await deportation back to Somalia. Samatar decided instead to make his way to Canada.

After being found in Emerson, the Canadian Border Services Agency moved Samatar to a refugee shelter in Winnipeg, where he says he was stunned by how welcoming everyone was.

“It was a huge difference between arriving in U.S.A. and Canada,” Samatar said. “You can see I’m walking freely, doing my own activities.”

While awaiting his hearing, Samatar was able to meet with his lawyer and call his family back home, two privileges that were denied to him in the U.S.

Now that he has refugee status, Samatar can apply to become a permanent resident, a process that could take more than a year. After that, he can apply for Canadian citizenship if he chooses.

For now, though, his focus is on finding a job and saving enough money to bring his family to Canada or enough to be able to visit them. He is especially looking forward to meeting his youngest son.

“My last son, he was born while I was in the (U.S.) detention centre. So I have never met him,” he said.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Meghan Roberts