Mexican family flee violence but are denied a Canada visa
August 27 2009 by Matt Jones
Canada visa denied for family
A woman saw two police officers kidnap someone in board daylight and was told she would be next, but Canadian immigration have denied her a visa
Santa Ramos Castro, a 41 year old woman from Tehuacan in the state of Puebla, Mexico witnessed two police officers throw a woman into the back of a van in broad daylight. The woman’s body turned up in a skip two weeks later and Castro says men came to her house and threatened her because of what she had seen.
She said: “They told me I had signed my own death warrant.”
She fled the country, but it didn’t end there. Her husband, Gerardo Contreras Tobon, stayed behind and became the new target. He says he was beaten up by the police on his way home in front of his seven year old son, who is still terrified when he recalls the event.
Castro was denied the Canada visa because of inconsistencies is Castro’s reports. Her written declaration was different to what she said in interview. For example there is confusion over whether she found out the woman had been murdered on June 1st or June 6th and there are questions over why she remembered the widower's full name at the hearing, but not at the interview
Tobon used to manage a string of gas stations in Puebla. He said: "We are a peaceful, hard-working family. We had no reason to come here. Things were going really well for us until my wife happened to see something."
Tobon had lived in the same home for ten years, but then he moved five times in quick succession before his final move to Canada. Amnesty International who are supporting the family’s case explained this in a letter to the Canadian Borders Services Agency, but it is already too late. The family are due to be deported at 5.30am tomorrow.
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