Kenyan Pastor facing deportation from Canada despite fleeing persecution
A Kenyan-born pastor is battling for her life in Canada as she faces deportation back to the very country she fled due to threats from a powerful religious figure.
A Kenyan-born pastor is battling for her life in Canada as she faces deportation back to the very country she fled due to threats from a powerful religious figure.
Reverend Rosalind Wanyeki, who has served the Kenyan diaspora community in Toronto for five years, is scheduled to be deported on August 7 despite overwhelming community support for her stay.
Wanyeki fled Kenya with her two young children, then aged four and eight months, after facing persecution from a high-ranking church official.
Since arriving in Canada, she has established a church, run a business, and provided extensive pastoral and emotional support to over 1,000 members of the Kenyan community.
“I was already established; I had the church, and I had my own business. I have my two kids. I would not have come all this way if I had other options. Asking me to go back is as good as telling me to die,” Wanyeki told Canadian media, City News.
Local faith leaders and community members have launched a campaign to stop her deportation, warning that her removal would leave a significant gap in spiritual and emotional services for Kenyan immigrants in Toronto.
“Within our Kenyan community, we rely heavily on clergy like Reverend Rosalind for counselling and mental support. Her removal would tear apart a lifeline many depend on,” said Reverend John Munywoki, a fellow clergy member.
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Advocates from the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change are also calling on the Canadian government to honour its 2021 promise to regularise undocumented migrants.
They argue that the current system is failing people like Wanyeki, who have made tangible contributions to Canadian society.
While Wanyeki’s appeal for permanent residency and risk assessment is still before the courts, community leaders fear the deportation could proceed before a final decision is reached. They are urging immigration authorities to halt the process until all legal avenues have been exhausted.
Meanwhile, Kenyans living in the US face the risk of a sudden deportation under a controversial move by President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at fast-tracking the removal of migrants who entered the country unlawfully.
According to reports from US media outlets, the Trump administration is planning to dismiss hundreds of thousands of asylum claims. Once this happens, the asylum seekers will immediately become deportable.
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