Comments on: Remember: New Glasses Before New Passport

Remember: New Glasses Before New Passport

jacquilynne — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:31:42 -0800

Detained in Kenya for not looking enough like her passport photo, Canadian Citizen Suaad Haji Mohamud has been trapped in Kenya for 2 months while trying to return home to her adopted country.

She's been declared a fraud by the Canadian government and may be deported back to war-torn Somalia, where she was born. She suggested she be fingerprinted, but after a couple of weeks, the government couldn't come up with anything to match the new prints to. So now, she's waiting on results of a DNA test that's expected to take more than another week.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:42:28 -0800

What happened to Canada?

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:42:43 -0800

Actually these days they ask you to remove your glasses for a passport photo even if you wear them all the time. Also: this is beyond idiotic. And it always seems that it's "new Canadians" that get caught in these sorts of troubles. It's never some blond guy with a Scottish surname. Between this an the new citizenship rules it seems like the Canadian government's new policy is that you shouldn't leave the country and that if you do, you're on your own.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:46:00 -0800

What happened to Canada? Nothing! This is standard operating procedure. Refusing to evacuate people from Syria, refusing Canadian citizenship to children of citizens who haven't spent enough time in the country, Omar Khadr, Maher Arar, William Sampson, Zahra Kazemi... leave the country and you're alone.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:49:17 -0800

Hrmm, I wasn't asked to remove my glasses for passport photos I got taken a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I haven't tried to actually use those passport photos to get a new passport yet. On the other hand, as a lily-white, born-in-Canada Canadian, I assume the government will deem me trustworthy enough to change my haircut sometime in the next five years once I do. As opposed to people like Ms. Mohamud, who made the mistake of being born elsewhere and black, and coming here as a refugee, instead of being a proper Canadian right from the start.

By: klanawa

klanawa — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:55:14 -0800

stephen harper reads the reader comments on the CBC website. he knows his base.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:05:13 -0800

That's pretty fucked up. I was going to ask why they don't just ask other Canadians who know her, but apparently she has a 12 year old son living in Canada right now! WTF!?

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:08:44 -0800

I don't see what she has to complain about - usually Canadian authorities just hand people over to the CIA to be tortured.

By: Iosephus

Iosephus — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:11:45 -0800

Bureaucrats will get us all killed way before global warming or nuclear warfare, I've always suspected.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:27:56 -0800

I'm not against bureaucrats per se. I just oppose issuing the firearms.

By: yoink

yoink — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:56:27 -0800

But she looks just like she looks in her passport photo. I mean, that is her passport photo in the "fingerprinted" link, right? I don't see that she has changed at all. There must, surely, be something more to this story than this, right? I mean, Canadian Immigration have always struck me as a ferocious bunch of wannabe nazis (sorry, Canada--you're a fantastic country but I lived there for a number of years as a foreigner and the extreme dickishness of the Canadian Immigration staff was legendary among the non-citizen community), but this seems bizarrely over the top even for them.

By: Mutant

Mutant — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:08:00 -0800

Well, I've worked in lots of African countries. Shit happened, I was detained, and guess what? This almost always happened while I was trying to leave the country I was working in. Look at it this way (I always did 'cause I've got a good sense of humour and you have to while working in Africa): you're there on a foreign passport, its their last chance to fuck with you, and they aren't going to miss it. While I never spent time in a Kenyan jail, you seriously don't want to be held in an pretty much any African jail. Things are different there. I'm a white American, and I know I was treated far, far better than everyone else while in prison there. Still, suck factor can't be underestimated. Those jails are seriously threatening to ones health and these aren't places you should be lingering if you have an alternative. While I'm genuinely glad to read she's out on bail, she's gotta do what she's gotta do to make sure she clears immigration next time around. From the article I read: "I'm Canadian now and I don't pay bribes" While I respect that on some level (seriously!) I've got to say I'm American and I did what I had to do while working in Africa. A general rule for working down there was always carry a few thousand in US $100 bills hidden on your person. Sadly, corruption is deeply ingrained in many of those countries, and its far worse if you're a foreigner or traveling on a foreign passport. Yes, I know paying bribes didn't help solve the corruption problem. No, I didn't like it much, but if it came down to a choice between leaving the country I was working in or staying, then I made sure I could leave. Africa is a very different place.

By: yoink

yoink — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:14:20 -0800

Mutant, I'm more than prepared to believe that failure to pay a bribe was the reason for her initial problem. But that doesn't explain the Canadian government's response, does it?

By: VikingSword

VikingSword — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:33:13 -0800

Once this is cleared up, I hope there's a thorough investigation into why Canadian authorities called her a fraud. Otherwise, this shit will just keep happening. And I have higher hopes for investigations in Canada leading to changes in policies than the cynical PR exercises in the U.S.; then again, after the Maher Arar case, maybe I shouldn't be so optimistic.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:34:20 -0800

What happened to Canada? According to Dan McTeague (former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Canadians Abroad, now opposition critic for Consular Services), what happened is the Harper government. Stephen Harper... and his caucus are exercising their ideological prerogative. The Conservatives do not have any coherent understanding of the prerogative of Canadian citizenship. This issue is about the inherent failings of the current government on any and every consular issue. Moreover, Mr. Harper threw away over 50 years of Canadian policy on seeking clemency for those facing the death penalty abroad without any debate or consultation with foreign affairs officials. The government's failure on consular cases stems from their devaluation of Canadian citizenship, sheer incompetence, and maybe something more sinister. The Conservatives only react, not out of respect for any high moral standard, but to how embarrassing a specific case has become. Most disturbing is the possibility Canadians are being judged guilty in absentia by an Orwellian jury comprised of the Canadian cabinet.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:37:56 -0800

Holy crap, her MP vouched for her and they're denying her identity?

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:42:43 -0800

leave the country and you're alone. I feel weird "favouriting" that, but yes, GuyZero, you are absolutely right.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:43:04 -0800

Bet Jessamyn doesn't think her new passport picture is so funny anymore.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:01:36 -0800

Free ~~Harry Buttle!~~ Suaad Haji Mohamud!

By: Hildegarde

Hildegarde — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:05:13 -0800

The pictures in the "fingerprinted" link are not her passport photo. You can see the passport photo in the first link. It doesn't really look like her at all. Given that she doesn't appear to wear the veil in person, I don't know why she's wearing it in so many of her photos. I feel for her, but...if your passport photo doesn't look like you, get a new bloody passport. I wouldn't mess with that sort of thing. I like my customs interviews to be as brief, clear, and simple as possible.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:59:35 -0800

You're not really allowed to get a new passport just willy-nilly. If you have more than a year remaining on your current passport, they'll give you a hard time about renewing it.

By: Hildegarde

Hildegarde — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:31:47 -0800

I seem to remember they tell you if you look radically different to change all your id. They would give you a "hard time" if you go in with concerns that you no longer resemble your passport picture? Really? Wouldn't you rather get a "hard time" from the passport office than get deported to a war-torn country?

By: tksh

tksh — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:15:03 -0800

yoink: I mean, Canadian Immigration have always struck me as a ferocious bunch of wannabe nazis (sorry, Canada--you're a fantastic country but I lived there for a number of years as a foreigner and the extreme dickishness of the Canadian Immigration staff was legendary among the non-citizen community), but this seems bizarrely over the top even for them. Don't worry, they're dicks to us Canadian citizens too. Especially the customs officers who seem to have a hard time believing clothing can really cost a lot less overseas and that *gasp* we might take advantage of that. I don't know either why our immigration policies seem to have worsen in the past few years. It doesn't do us any good, not even in n populist protecting-us-from-evil-terrorists way.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:26:36 -0800

"Hrmm, I wasn't asked to remove my glasses for passport photos I got taken a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I haven't tried to actually use those passport photos to get a new passport yet." The passport people will not accept a photo if there is the slightest bit of glare or your eyes are in anyway not clear (IE: if they can make out that your frames aren't empty) so save some aggravation and get new pictures taken. Jessamyn's picture would fail. It's best this way anyways in case you were to replace your glasses with a different style or worse lose them on a trip. You can always take your glasses off for a border guard but it'll be tough to put them on if they disappeared down some air plane toilet. "You're not really allowed to get a new passport just willy-nilly. If you have more than a year remaining on your current passport, they'll give you a hard time about renewing it." They recommend replacing your passport if your appearance has changed. Theory and practise of course though.

By: zouhair

zouhair — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:43:58 -0800

And what about Abousfian Abdelrazik, if you are brown and you are unfairly incarcerated in a foreign country you are pretty much fucked, but if you are white and convicted of a crime you'll get all the help you need. Canada is dead.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:11:48 -0800

Fucking Stephen Harper. [spit] What an asshole.

By: yoink

yoink — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:07:44 -0800

The pictures in the "fingerprinted" link are not her passport photo. You're right. On the other hand, the only version of her passport photo that does seem to be available is a poor-quality black-and-white photocopy. It's simply impossible to judge from that whether or not it is a good likeness.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:53:53 -0800

Bet Jessamyn doesn't think her new passport picture is so funny anymore. I still think it's hilarious, but I realize it's pretty likely I may have to have it retaken.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:30:25 -0800

The DNA test results are finally back, and confirm that she is who she says she is. The Canadian government? Still not convinced.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:33:45 -0800

...the hapless traveller laid out all her ID at the Canadian High Commission. She displayed her Ontario driver's licence, OHIP card, social insurance card and Canadian citizenship certificate. She showed her credit card, two bank cards, Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum card, Humber River Regional Hospital Card and a recent dry cleaning receipt from One Hour Brighten Cleaners on Lawrence Ave. W., near her Toronto address. She produced a letter from her Toronto employer, ATS courier service, about a recent promotion. The high commission rejected them all. Worse, instead of helping Mohamud, they sent her voided passport to Kenyan immigration authorities to help them prosecute her. I hope she sues. Suing the government seems to be the only way to communicate with them these days. Fucking Stephen Harper [spit].