Canada's failed commitment to international human rights law in Abdoul Abdi case

Standing outside Dorchester Penitentiary, N.B., we are about to meet our client, Abdoul Abdi, for the first time. Abdi, 24, has lived in Canada most of his life, but now faces deportation.

We spent weeks preparing for the meeting, reading through hundreds of government documents detailing Abdi’s life. Born in Saudi Arabia to a Somali mother, he later migrated with his mother and sister to a refugee camp in Djibouti. Returning to Somalia was not an option because of the brutal civil war, which continues to this day. Abdi’s biological mother died in the refugee camp and his aunts assumed custody.