Her work permit expired the day it was issued, leaving this refugee claimant hopeless

A refugee claimant who fled fromcivil war in Ethiopiasays she's exasperated after Canada's Immigration Department made a silly mistake on her work permit leaving herstill unable to work, study, or get adequate health care as she's waitedmore than16 months for her refugee case to move forward.

Eden Zebenehas livedin Ottawasince fleeing Ethiopia in February 2021. The 23-year-old is waiting for her case to be heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada the finalstep before becoming aprotected personand applying for permanent residency (PR).

"I was very depressed ... because I don't have anything to do here. I always stay at home. I cannot study or I cannot [work]," shesaid.

"I want to change myself. My life."

After 16 months of pleading with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)to move her case forward overphone, email, inperson, and through her lawyer,Zebene had her eligibility interview in late July a step claimants needto pass in order to get work and study permits.

Though still without a study permit, she finally got her work permit this month, giving her a glimmer of hope only to find it expired the same day it was issued: Aug. 6, 2022.

"I feel very disappointed. I was very humiliated. I thought that no one cares for me in this country," said Zebene, getting emotional. She described experiencing severe mental health impacts as a result of IRCC's delays and the mistake in her case.

"I cried a lot."

Zebenesaid her family wassubject to brutal attacks in the Oromiaregion of Ethiopia,and said her family home and business wereburned down. She was detained, beaten, insulted, threatened and sexually assaulted by Ethiopian security forces because of her Amharan ethnicity and her perceived political opinion in the past,her submission to IRCC reads.

Regions in northern Ethiopiahave been embroiled in conflictsince the start of acivil war in November 2020where all sides have been accused of atrocities.While no official government numbers exist, it's estimated that thousands of Amharas have been killed, and millions ofpeople displaced.

"I was scared for my life," said Zebene."If I return, I will be mistreated, detained, killed, tortured."

Now safe in Canada, she dreams of studying computer science at an Ottawa university and working part-time, but without valid permits and a social insurance numbershe's unable to.

She's also pregnant, and had a health scare a few months ago but was only able to access basic care at a newcomer clinic under her interim federal health coverage, as she waits to be eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

Zebene has attempted several times to contact IRCC to fix its recent mistake on her work permit, to no avail.

"I am young, and I believe I can do a lot for this country and also for myself," she said. "Please do something and help me."

'All her dreams ... fell apart': husband

Tizazu Yamitu said it's been difficultwatchinghis wife struggle.

"It was [a] very traumatic experience," he said. "This bureaucratic process, it had drained her energy and motivation.... All her dreams, you know, like basically just fell apart in front of her eyes."

He questions how sucha "trivial mistake" could be made on an important document.

Yamitu, who was also a refugee claimant in 2017, is asking IRCC to properly train its employees, for mistakes to be quickly remediedandfor immigration officers to have empathy for applicants.

"They have to think that they're like deciding someone's fate, you know?" he said. "It's totally unimaginable to think that such kind of mistakes would happen."

Not knowing when she'll get a refugee boardhearing,Yamitu is asking IRCC to fast track hisspousal sponsorship application for Zebene, which they submitted two months ago. This is another paththe couple has taken to seek Zebene's permanent residency.

Longest wait refugee lawyer has seen

Zebene's lawyer TeklemichaelSahlemariam, who practises refugee law,said her 16-month wait for the eligibility interview is the longest he's ever seen among his clients.

"It is not normal," he said.

Sahlemariam said he actually recommends his Ottawa clients to change their address to Toronto if possible, to avoid delays.

"This often happens to my clients in Ottawa, actually," said the Toronto-based lawyer. "It was excessively delayed."

Sahlemariam has also never seen IRCCexpire someone's work permit the same day it was issued; but a week before he heard about Zebene's expired permit, he saw an email from another lawyer whose client experienced something similar.

"This kind of technical glitch can happen. I'm not surprised with that," he said, adding that it should be an easy fix for IRCC.

"What bothers me seriously, rather, is the time it took her to get this work permit."

WATCH | Lawyer says he's concerned over client's long wait time:

Refugee claimant forced to rely on social assistance amid work permit delay, lawyer says

2 years ago

Duration 1:27

Eden Zebene, a refugee claimant from Ethiopia, finally received her work permit after an 18-month delay, only to find it expired on the same day it was issued. Her lawyer, Tecklemichael Sahlemariam, says many of his other clients are seeing delays as well.

Sahlemariam, who's also Ethiopian, said what Zebene experienced in her home country was traumatizing and he is dumbfounded why it took so long for her case to move forward, as there's strong documentation of her persecution in Ethiopia.

"She wanted to be productive, to pay back to the community, to pay taxes, but she was forced to rely on social assistance and that is because of problems beyond her control," he said.

'Regrettable error,' says IRCC

CBC asked Canada's Immigration Department for comment Tuesdayon Zebene's situation.

In an emailed response Thursday, IRCC said occasionally, human error can happen while processing applications.

"It was a regrettable error and we apologize for that," wrote a spokesperson.

The ministry said it has now fixed Zebene's work permit, will print it in two business days and mail it to her. Her study permit is still in the works, it said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.