The 9-year ordeal of a Palestinian refugee in Canada

The case of Omar Ben Ali

by Under The Olive Tree

Omar Ben Ali at the Nakba 2017 march in Montreal. Photo by Emi Ly

We talked with Omar Ben Ali, a Palestinian refugee from the Occupied West bank who fled to Canada in 2008 due to threats he faced in the occupied West Bank.

Since then, Omar has been stuck in a ridiculous legal and bureaucratic limbo in Canada for almost 10 years. To learn more about this truly shameful ordeal imposed on Omar by Immigration Canada, we talked with Omar so he can tell us himself who he is, what is his situation and how it took a toll on his health, his love of life and his family.

Omar's story just gives us a small glimpse of what it means to be stateless and a refugee locked into a legal and bureaucratic bind, without having the right to stay but neither the right to return.

This interview was conducted by Sawssan Kaddoura, host of Under The Olive Tree, and Mostafa Henaway, member of Tadamon!

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Under The Olive Tree (Under The Olive Tree)
Montreal - Palestine
Member since July 2014

About:

Under the Olive Tree is a Montreal-based radio show that discusses various topics related to Palestine. It airs Live on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal, Quebec (ckut.ca - 11am to 12pm) and on CFRC 101.9 FM in Kingston, Ontario (cfrc.ca - 4pm to 5pm). For more information, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/uot.ckut