Hiiraan Online

The Canadian Bill of Rights, after an eloquent preamble affirming the dignity and worth of the human person, the supremacy of God and the rule of law, declares that certain fundamental rights exist without restriction. One of the rights it sets out is equality of all Canadians!

The question is: Is this piece of rights shared equally by all Canadians? Are all Canadians equal or some Canadians are more equal than others?

The later is true, at least in Nairobi – Kenya, where Somali-Canadian travelers tell stories of discriminations and humiliations by the staff of the Canadian High Commission.  The ordeal begins at the gate of the embassy where Canadians citizens of Somali origin are mistreated and sometimes physically assaulted by the Kenyan security guards.

In the winter of 2007, I was a member of a few selected Somali Community leaders, who were invited one day to meet with the Canadian Legislature and government – including the Prime Minister in Ottawa.  When it was our turn to meet with senior officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, a well prepared member of our community produced a thick file containing complaints about the Canadian Embassy in Nairobi. The complaints had one thing in common. The mistreatment of the Somali-Canadians by the Embassy Staff! The senior officials were surprised or acted to be surprised at the facts contained in the files. The discussion went on and pointed out the different reports about Canadian and American citizens of Somali origin. Someone compared the difference between these two embassies in Nairobi, and how the American citizens of Somali origin are cordially received at their embassy and offered refreshments in the waiting room. The astonished senior officials apologetically promised that they will seriously look into the matter and do something about it.

Other travellers relate about similar incidents in Europe and the Middle East. Even though they are comparably not as humiliating as in Kenya, these airports make Somalis feel that they are not “really” Canadians. Canadian citizens of Somali origin jokingly talk about the famous answering machine at the embassy in Abu Dhabi.

A well travelled friend of mine once advised me to keep in mind that there is no muscle behind the Canadian Passport compared to the American one.  I agreed with him and took his advice seriously. In April 1998 I boarded the Greek Olympic Air from Dubai on my way to Toronto. We stopped at Athens for two days. On the third day I went to the airport and was to clear through immigration. The Greek Immigration Officer was a middle aged woman. She kept looking at me and my passport several times. Then she got up and seemed to be consulting to another fellow immigration officer. I tried to keep cool and kept reading a book I had with me. She come back and kept flipping my passport.

She asked me who I am, where I came from and why I came to Athens. Remembering the advice from my friend about being a Canadian Passport holder not an American one, I answered all her questions as politely as I can. She pretended to be checking at her computer and confirming my identity. I kept calm and continued reading my book. After what seemed to be an hour she gave me back my passport and bid me farewell. I thanked her forced a smile and put my passport in my bag. Before I leave she said if she can ask me a question. Still smiling I told her it is ok.

“Are there black Canadians?” She asked. “I seen black Americans”

I laughingly explained to her that we are not as famous or as powerful as the black Americans. We are a “visible minority” in Canada.