A family of five — including two Canadian-born children — will be deported to Cameroon this weekend despite fears they could face persecution there for their Catholic faith.
In a ruling Thursday, Federal Court Justice Simon Noël turned down the Fuh-Cham family’s last-ditch bid to avoid deportation.
It was a bitter disappointment to the LaSalle family and for supporters who created a Facebook page and held rallies to publicize the case.
LaSalle-Émard Member of Parliament Hélène LeBlanc deplored the deportation.
“I am dismayed by the decision of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to deport a well-established family with a strong humanitarian case and worry about the numerous deportations cases affecting families in LaSalle-Émard,’’ LeBlanc said in a statement.
Father Hilary Fuh-Cham arrived in Canada in 2007 and applied for refugee status, saying his wife and daughter would be subject to genital mutilation in their native land.
Fuh-Cham said he declined to become chief of his village because his Christian values clashed with tribal traditions in his village.
In 2010, the Immigration and Refugee Board turned down his application, saying his story was not credible, and two subsequent applications by the family to be allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds were also rejected.
About 50 members of the family’s church community attended Tuesday’s court hearing to offer support. Fuh-Cham works as a manager at UPS, leads his church choir and is an active volunteer.
Refugee advocates say deportations have risen dramatically in the past two years and accuse Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government of turning its back on Canada’s long-standing humanitarian tradition.
