While she thinks she is safe after fleeing Guinea-Conakry, Marie (not her first name) faces a new series of problems in Montreal. Portrait of a political activist seeking asylum in Canada.
Eight months pregnant, she arrived late for our appointment. It's a rainy day as April can expect in Montreal. “I had to beg the bus driver to take me because my Opus card ran out of money,” explains the 21-year-old young mother. She meets me at the offices of Femmes du Monde in Côte-des-Neiges, an organization that has supported her since she arrived in the city.
In 2023, 111 asylum seekers from Guinea have been accepted in Canada. A tiny diaspora arriving from a country where political turmoil is significant.
Difficulties upon arrival
When she landed at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport in Montreal, Marie had only $200 in her pocket and two priorities: to go to the hospital to check the health of her unborn child and to join the friend who must temporarily host her. It's the start of a series of disappointments.
First, they refuse to admit her to the hospital, even though she is worried after flying for more than eight hours and being almost eight months pregnant.
“Instead of picking on me first, seeing if I have problems, and then talking to me about money, they asked me about my status,” she says angrily. When I said that I had a student visa, that I did not have a health insurance card and that I was pregnant, I was told to come back with my documents in order.” Anxious, she leaves the hospital in tears saying that she would have been ready to go into debt just to get an ultrasound and make sure that her child was healthy.
Marie then belongs to the category “Migrant without health insurance” (MSAM), about which the bioethics researcher Annie Liv states the following: “When pregnant, some MSAM women forgo obstetric care due to their inability to pay medical expenses that can range between $8,934 and $17,280.”
It was after this episode where she was denied access to health care that Marie decided to apply for asylum, because she feared for her safety in Guinea. An agent from the Immigrant Assistance and Reference Interpreter Service (SIARI) helps her fill out her asylum application, then she receives an acknowledgement of receipt — the essential document to get health care. “It's as if I were arriving in paradise! ” she exclaims.
But another disillusionment awaited Marie: the welcome at her friend's house. “Some people are not nice,” she lets go. She sleeps on the floor at this woman's house while she is pregnant and eats the leftovers for a few weeks.
“I then learn that you can get accommodation with the PRAIDA [Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers, editor's note] and the YMCA, but on condition that you apply for asylum at the airport” — an aberration that she cannot explain.
“It's the same process, but why the distinction? I was able to change my status from student to asylum seeker thanks to my encounter with SIARI.” “Tears flowed on the spot because I was completely desperate.”
Contacted by La Converse, PRAIDA affirms that there is no distinction between asylum seekers according to where they apply.
Although he does not comment on any particular case, the spokesperson for the organization hosting asylum seekers in Montreal is surprised at this situation, because “access to PRAIDA's temporary accommodation is granted following a rigorous evaluation by a social worker.”
Four criteria give access to temporary accommodation: you must be a formal asylum seeker, therefore have an acknowledgement of receipt, be “newly arrived”, be without financial resources and without a network that can accommodate the person.
Looking for political refuge
While still in high school — the equivalent of high school in Quebec — Marie got involved in politics early on. She joined the ranks of the party of Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and delivers speeches to mobilize the grassroots.
“In my community, it was frowned upon that, being a girl from the Mandingo ethnic group, I was part of the UFDG,” she explains, who is still passionate about politics. It was ethnic. There was segregation around me.” Even though members of the Mandingo ethnic group are also members of the UFDG, it is possible that, in her community or her family, Marie had difficulties.
She explains that she received numerous insults from members of the Mandingo community she belongs to, who criticized her for joining a political party associated with the Fulani people. “In the street, they threw stones at us because we were wearing shirts with the UFDG logo. It was frowned upon that I mixed with the Fulani. But I saw what was right,” she said.
In a tense political climate where the ruling party won a third term, Marie decided to leave the country — and quickly.
“We were like ants: the members of the new government wanted to crush us. When they knew that you were from the UFDG, they knew that you were opposed to the regime, that you were categorically opposed to the state. And when your Mandingo community knows that you are on the side of the Peuls, it's not going well,” she explains.
The September 2021 military coup, which overthrew the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG), temporarily changed the situation. At the head of the operation is Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya. “When they took power, all the opponents were happy,” she whispers. She then gave up the idea of fleeing her country. But quickly, the colonel changed tack.
“It was disastrous. He started hunting down all the members of all the political parties existing in Guinea. — young, old, whatever, they took you and imprisoned you”, reports the young woman. This situation forced her to reconsider her plans.
A heartbreaking choice between marriage and family
In the meantime, Marie meets her future husband at an Islamic conference. “It was during the month of Ramadan, and we got along well, so we exchanged contact details,” she says, smiling.
Marie, who was then living with her parents at her uncle's house, asked him for financial assistance to apply for a student visa and thus go to Canada. He is the one who has the money and owns the house. She decided to continue her studies in Quebec by joining the Campus Canada program, and thus to flee the unstable political situation in her country. She knows that her political involvement with the UFDG Makes her a potential target.
Her fiancé comes to ask her parents for her hand. “My parents turned him away, especially my uncle, who financed my procedure — and why? Because he wanted me to marry his eldest son, she's mad. When my husband came to ask for my hand, my uncle told me to choose between my trip and my husband. However, I liked him and he liked me too. They chased me out of the house, I left and went to where my husband was staying.”
Marie's wait is coming to an end soon, but it's only one step. “I gave birth to my first baby in Guinea. After a month, the visa arrived.” She will need another two years in order to save the funds needed to buy a plane ticket.
“My husband fought to raise the money, he could not work openly for the current regime, because his wife was wanted,” she said with emotion, thinking back to her partner who worked tirelessly.
Fighter's path
When she arrives in Montreal, Marie's Way of the Cross to find housing begins. She believes that, without the support of SIARI, she would be homeless today.
After PRAIDA refused, a SIARI counsellor called relentlessly all emergency shelters that welcome women. She finds a temporary solution in Le Chaînon. Normally, this center houses women who are victims of domestic violence, but a bed is free in a dormitory. While she found something else, Marie breathed a little, relieved. She narrowly avoids the streets, because the friend who was hosting her temporarily gave her an ultimatum to leave and find her own place.
“I am not used to the cool weather and was wondering if I would be able to sleep outside in March? ” she recalls with tears in her eyes. Then, good news arrives: another organization, Passages, has one free bed in a room. Once again, this emergency accommodation simplifies his journey.
“There, I was in a room with two beds and we also offered food. I was so happy to have a roof, my own little bed,” says Marie, with a smile on her face.
But the celebrations were short lived: “I was told that I absolutely had to find a more permanent place to stay, because if I gave birth without a home, the DPJ could take my child away from me. I was completely upset. It was not going well at all.”
Still gripped by fear, Marie does not know that an entire team is working to find a more permanent solution for her.
“If I start talking about the role of SIARI, I'm going to start crying,” she said with emotion. I don't want to say that we only help with the equipment, but they were there with me. The day I applied for asylum, they cheered me up by telling me that they were going to find solutions and, indeed, they did find solutions.”
A social worker from Femme du Monde in Côte-des-Neiges reveals to Marie that she and her team worked tirelessly to find her emergency accommodation and provide her with a gift card to buy food in a supermarket. A great demonstration of the work carried out in the shadows and in synergy by community organizations overwhelmed by requests and needs. “We were behind talking and looking for accommodations. Marie came late and left late,” says Christina Pierre, community organizer at Femmes du Monde.
This solution excludes the risk, for Marie, of having her baby caught — which she is waiting for from one day to the next.
“Everyone welcomed me! My mood is good now, because when it comes to pregnancy, I am followed by La Maison Bleue,” she says, with a big smile in her voice.
The life ahead
Until her husband and eldest daughter join her in Montreal, Marie says she will have the strength to continue studying once her two children are older. “I dream of studying economics and working for the World Bank,” she says, adding that she wants to make her country of origin shine.
In the meantime, she wants to open up about her story so that things can change and that pregnant women who seek asylum are better informed of what awaits them when they arrive in Canada. “It's really not the end of your woes, and it may be more difficult than you think,” she says, adding that the help offered by community organizations is a lifesaver.
“What they do, really, deserves medals,” Marie exclaims with a laugh.
To go further:
Read the article The ordeal faced by asylum seekers who fall ill by María Gabriela Aguzzi.
Support resources
- The Welcome Collective has prepared an exhaustive guide in which all emergency accommodation solutions are listed. You can consult it Here
- Femme du Monde in Côte-des-Neiges
- Immigrant Assistance and Reference Interpreter Service (SIARI)