Should a a platform be created for Ghanaians resident in Toronto Canada to come and share their life experiences that they have gone through here in this country, listeners would be shocked of the bitter stories that they would be told.
About 92 percent out of the total population of 75 thousand Ghanaians resident here have gone through certain bitter experiences suffered at the hands of their sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, friends and even their fully blooded parents that make them to regret coming over to reside in this country.
As for the country, it provides fair justice system, stable democracy and stable government where every resident is expected to be protected and live comfortably. However the problem is with the Ghanaian counterparts who struggle to get their family members over to this country who do not treat those they sponsor very well and it is becoming a silent killer of late.
There are so many chilling stories to be told which are very bitter but for now let me concentrate on the seizure of passports of newcomers into this country by their sponsors which needs to be tackled before it gets out of hand and yes before it gets out of hand because it is appearing like a balloon hanging in the air, which can burst at anytime and anyhow. This could lead to prosecution and deportation of many people back to Ghana irrespective of earning Canadian citizenship.
In recent times, many Ghanaians have easily gone through the process of acquiring Canadian visa to enter the country because of the respect Ghana earned through a successful election it conducted last year, free and fair democracy, freedom and stable government just as they are Canada.
However, certain unscrupulous persons are taking advantage of this and turning this area to a gold mine where they force and get people sponsored here only for them to seize their passports, landed immigrant cards and all other traveling documents that can identify them as such and make them live under the protection of the country to use in fictitious deals.
This unlawful seizures by sponsors to newcomers have created a long rift between families and friends and because most of the victims do not know where to go for solution to this problem are beginning to resort to violence as the only way to get themselves freed from such captivity as some have drawn knives threatening to kill their sisters, brothers, uncles, aunties, friends and even parents should they refuse to release their traveling documents to them.
But what are the reasons for seizing the passports, landed immigrant cards by sponsors from newcomers? One may ask. Several years ago when one sponsors you to Canada, in order for you to pay back the money he spent in processing your documents, he seizes your documents so that after haven paid the full cost incurred, the sponsor then releases the documents to you.
Although this practice is still going on, it has worsened. Now sponsors be it a sister, brother, parent, friend collects the money and insist that the newcomers document be used in dubious marriage of another sister or brother's sponsorship to come over to Canada.
Here, the sponsor forges marriage documents and charges another fee from the one being sponsored irrespective of the relationship and it goes on and on.
It is sad to know that when the seizure is done and the dubious sponsorship has not gone through, the one who's document was seized is denied of quality health care, good job and other facilities because he cannot register for health insurance, social security insurance, car assurance and many more as the government is very strict on these security facilities and when one is not covered, he or she risk living here.
The fact is many sponsors hide the truth from their dad, mums, brothers and sisters that they are sponsoring to Canada by promising them juicy profit making jobs and educational benefits only for them to come and realize the country is severely suffering from economic recession therefore those promises are nowhere, making them "victims of captivity".
I have a clear evidence of one person who suffered such treatment for ten years that he lived in Canada until recently when he decided to go back home for good. He was sponsored by his sister only for him to be a store attendant as she seized the brother's passport from him from the very week he landed in this country. This generated into a big quarrel between him and the sister and one day exchanged blows only for him to be picked by the Toronto police for assault. He was booked for deportation back to Ghana only for him to be saved by a competent lawyer who challenged the allegations filed against him in court.
There is a lady who was sponsored by a friend who after successfully landing in the country, had her passport and landed card seized on the third day of arrival by the friend who sponsored her to Canada.
Not knowing to this new comer, her sponsor, was going to use the documents to sponsor her brother to come over to Canada by forcing her friend, the new comer, to pretend that she was the wife to her sponsors brother which she did not agree leading to a long standing rift up till now and remain unresolved as the two are still not on talking terms.
There are many people out there who have taken to gangsterism because all their efforts to get their seized passports, landed immigrant cards and other identification cards that will make them eligible residents here have failed therefore breaking away from their homes and joining gangs.
Most of these youth were found to be very respectful when they entered this country as they wisely preferred to explore the educational opportunities to their benefit, that of their family and in the long run to that of mother Ghana. But their sponsors turning themselves into visa contractors demanding that they go back and marry their own sisters and brothers using their documents which they find difficult to do so, they are made to face a whole lot of maltreatment which at the end made them to break away from their homes and join gangs only to find some freedom but worsen their plight as they get killed, jailed or deported.
I must tell you there are a lot of people out there who are suffering same but do not know how to get over it. Some are working only for their salaries to be paid into secrete accounts only owned by their sponsors and do not know when they will finish paying them.
What is obvious to observe is that the Canada Immigration Service is only looking at illegal immigrants and not seeing how to get those with resident permit but have their passports and landed cards seized by their sponsors because they are simply refusing to let these documents be used for fictitious deals that will only go to benefit the sponsors at the expense of the sponsored.
What is very sad is that the country does not condone abuses as the government insists that Canadian citizens and residents have rights by making it important for everyone to learn about his or her rights and duties in Canada by knowing how the country's charter of rights and freedoms works.
The charter of rights and freedoms is part of Canada's constitution and protects both citizens as well as residents from the moment they arrive in the country setting out the values that Canadians and residents alike live by and describe the kinds of personal human rights expected in the country which new comers are not made known by their sponsors because they do not want them to have their freedom.
Some of these rights and freedoms include [1] the right to life, liberty and personal security, [2]freedom of conscience and religion [3]freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media. [4] freedom to hold peaceful meetings, [5] freedom to join groups,[6] protection from unreasonable search or seizure and unjustifiable detainment and imprisonment. Point [7] says the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,[8] the right to retain and instruct counsel (a lawyer without delay) [9]the right to a fair trial through due process of the law and finally the [10] says the equal right protection and benefit under the law without discrimination.
Since rights come with responsibilities, Ghanaians living in Canada are expected to understand and obey Canadian laws, allow other Canadians to enjoy their rights and freedoms and help to preserve Canada's multi-cultural heritage.
In fact Canada, does not tolerate Abuse at all considering it as a very serious offense. Violence towards any person, man, woman or child is against the law. No one has the right to hit or threaten people or force them to accept or do what they think in their right frame of mind is wrong like accepting and releasing their documents to be used in fictitious sponsorship of another person to come over to Canada.
The country's law identify three main abuse which are physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse which many Ghanaian new comers are made to suffer by their sponsors here in Canada at the blind side of the government knowing very well that if they are caught they the perpetrators would be prosecuted and deported depending on the seriousness of the case.
Among the three highlighted abuses, the psychological abuse is the one which is very high among Ghanaian residents which needs to be corrected immediately. These abuse includes terror and humiliation by seizing passports, resident permit cards, refusal to let new comers to register for health insurance cards, social insurance cards and daily threats of getting new comers deported back to their country of origin should they refuse to allow themselves to be used wrongly or try to fight for their freedom against inhuman treatments.
Total neglect of new comers by their sponsors is another serious abuse being meted out to fellow Ghanaians which needs to be tackled as the law on it says anyone who fails to protect and provide for a person under their care-whether that person is a child, parent - adult - is guilty of neglect.
The law forbids leaving children under the age of 12 at home without a responsible adult supervising them. While abusing people under your care is a crime and this has been going on for decades because the people are ignorant of these laws or do not know where to turn to fight for their freedom of rights.
Ghanaians should start raising the red flags on this issue for the government through the ministry of foreign affairs to liaise with immigration service of Canada to come out with ultimatum to sponsors to free their sponsored that they are treating badly. Again, the public must be educated very well about these maltreatment going on here which I can described as silent killer so that many newcomers will be aware of it and where to turn to for solution when they come and face it, whilst the Ghana High Commission in Canada should also break its silence on the matter and stop pretending as if it is not aware of it and quickly set platform for victims to come out freely and lodge complaints.
Thanks for the opportunity for me to reach out to all the authorities to get aware of the canker for them to wake up and get the problem solved as soon as possible otherwise the blame game of youth violence in Canada involving Ghanaians will get worse without knowing the cause.
