He fled civil war in Ivory Coast and landed in Quebec in 2016. Staying has been a struggle since

UPDATE: A Federal Court judge suspended Mamadou Konaté's deportation on Sept. 30 until the courts can assess the risks involved with sending him back to Ivory Coast.

Konaté's laywer, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, said this is the third time Konaté's deportation has been suspended — something rarely seen in Canada. Konaté still doesn't have status in Canada.

Sept. 30 could be Mamadou Konaté's last day in Canada, after nearly seven years of fighting for his right to stay in the country. 

Konaté's story is by now well-known in Quebec — where he cleaned the rooms of COVID-positive patients at three long-term care homes, sorted trash in waste management centres and felled trees for Hydro-Québec in remote parts of the province. 

His story surfaced in media at the height of the pandemic, when it was revealed that Quebec's health-care network — including its beleaguered long-term care homes — was being propped up by hundreds of migrant workers whose status in Canada remained uncertain. 

Konaté fled civil war in his home country of Ivory Coast and bounced between refugee camps in neighbouring countries before landing in Canada in February 2016.

"With everything we've done, all the procedures and applications, all the sacrifices I've made in this country, to get this kind of news, it's sad. It's unfair," Konaté said over the phone this week from his work as a janitor at a Montreal university. 

When he arrived in 2016, Konaté's refugee claim was rejected under a section of the federal Immigration Act, which states that anyone who participated in the overthrowing of a government cannot seek residency in Canada.

He was part of a movement to overthrow former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo. Konaté says he deserted the movement and went into hiding, and he believes he could be killed or tortured in retaliation if he returns to Ivory Coast.

Immigration Lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, who happens to be running as the Québec Solidaire candidate for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne in the upcoming provincial election, took up Konaté's case earlier this month. 

Cliche-Rivard said he took on the case before finding out the removal date issued by the CBSA would be four days before the Oct. 3 election. 

"But when I say yes to someone, I say yes 100 per cent, so it was very clear to me that my personal or professional desires to be elected should not go against or in contradiction of those principles," Cliche-Rivard said. 

"I'm doing everything I can to give him status here." 

Cliche-Rivard says he still has hope Konaté's deportation date could be deferred, at least until Quebec's Immigration Ministry takes a look at his case, which could take years. 

The lawyer has filed an application for a pre-removal risk assessment, typically the last ditch effort available in Canadian immigration law to prevent or delay someone's removal from the country.

In the application, he submitted a report from the Amnesty International office in Ivory Coast, which studied Konaté's case and determined he would be arrested and tortured upon his return.

The last time an examination was made of the risks involved in Konaté's return was in 2018, according to Cliche-Rivard, who said they have evolved since then.

Since then, Konaté shared his support for presidential hopeful Guillaume Soro on social media, increasing the likelihood of him being a target, Cliche-Rivard said. 

Over the nearly seven years Konaté has lived in Quebec, he has developed close friendships despite working long hours to pay for his immigration proceedings. He and those friends meet for supper and weekend activities. He said he's embarrassed by the stress those proceedings take up in his life. 

"I'm not a criminal. I work here, I live here, I have friends, I speak French," Konaté said. "What kind of immigrant are they looking for?"

Konaté, his friends, Cliche-Rivard and migrant rights' groups will hold a demonstration Thursday morning at 10 a.m. outside the federal immigration offices on St-Antoine Street in Montreal to protest his deportation. 

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.