Former Somali child refugee Abdoul Abdi has been released from custody as he continues his fight against deportation to a country he has no connection to.
Benjamin Perryman, Abdi‘s lawyer, says he was released Wednesday morning from the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., to a halfway house in the greater Toronto area.
Abdi grew up in foster care in Nova Scotia, but never got Canadian citizenship, and was held by the Canada Border Services Agency after spending five years in prison for multiple offences, including aggravated assault.
Abdi‘s case has become a rallying point for advocates who say it was wrong for the province to fail to apply for citizenship on his behalf.
Perryman said Abdi told him Wednesday it felt “unreal” to be free after five years, and thanked his supporters and wanted “to say thank you for being given a chance.”
No deportation hearing has been scheduled yet.
The lawyer continues to fight Abdi‘s deportation in Federal Court.
“The Minister also has the power to settle the court case and provide Mr. Abdi with the relief he is seeking, but that has not occurred,” Perryman said in an email.
“We are hopeful that the government will stop its efforts to deport Mr. Abdi and that his case can be resolved without having to go to court.”
