A Romanian family who had hoped to build a life near Toronto with their two Canadian\u002Dborn children saw their dreams end tragically in the frigid waters off…
Ivanyi said his last communication with Florin Iordache was early last week to inform him that all the family’s legal avenues to stay in Canada were exhausted and they were facing removal from the country on March 29. He believes that news prompted the Iordaches to attempt the risky river journey to the United States.
He said the couple were among a flood of Romanians who arrived in the country in December 2017 after Canada waived most visa requirements. Florin Iordache and his wife, who is listed as Monalisa Budi on immigration applications, filed for asylum the next year on the grounds that they face discrimination back home.
Ivanyi said he was shocked to learn that Florin Iordache was only 28 when he died, because he had always seemed so much older. “It was clear that he felt the burden of having to keep his kids in Canada,” he said. “To give them, not just a better life, but to prevent them from having to live through all those terrible things that he and his wife had growing up.”
He said that after their asylum claim was rejected, the couple applied late last year for a pre-removal risk assessment in an attempt to show they faced danger if deported. When that was denied last month, they appealed and asked for a deferral of removal, on grounds that included their two young children’s medical conditions.
Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police for the city of Mehsana in Gujarat, told The Canadian Press the Chaudharis were regularly in touch with family back home, but the messages stopped about a week before their deaths. Family members were distraught to learn of the fatal mishap through news reports and social media, he said.Article content
The deaths have come at a time when police in Akwesasne have warned of an increase in human smuggling in the territory, whose border-straddling geography has long made it a hot spot for illicit crossings.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Romanian family’s dream of life in Canada ended tragically in waters off Akwesasne | Globalnews.caA Toronto lawyer who had represented the Iordache family since 2018, said they were desperate to stay in Canada for the sake of their two children, who were Canadian citizens.
Read more »
Romanian migrants that died in Akwesasne had tried to claim asylum in Canada twiceA Romanian man who perished in the St. Lawrence River with his young family last week twice came to Canada for asylum and arrested by American authorities when trying to sneak into the U.S.
Read more »
'No other option' Roma family from Toronto that drowned at Akwesasne faced deportation: lawyerA young Toronto father facing deportation to Romania “felt he’d run out of options” and “must have been very desperate” when he made the fatal decision to flee with his wife and two young children to the United States on the frigid St. Lawrence River, says his lawyer.
Read more »
Still no sign of missing Akwesasne man after St. Lawrence River drownings | CBC NewsThere is still no sign of a missing Akwesasne man whose boat was found near where the bodies of eight people were pulled from the St. Lawrence River last week.
Read more »
Police search for boat operator who may have fled after eight migrants died in AkwesasnePolice would not say whether they suspect Oakes may have drowned along with the others or fled the scene of the tragedy and is in hiding
Read more »
Police search for boat operator who may have fled after eight migrants died in AkwesasnePolice would not say whether they suspect Oakes may have drowned along with the others or fled the scene of the tragedy and is in hiding
Read more »