A Tunisian-born man who spent 29 months living in a New Brunswick church after his permanent residency application was denied, is finally a free man.
Mohamed Amine Maazaoui, 34, sought sanctuary at the Shediac Bay Community Church in 2015 and was only able to set foot outside late last month when his permanent residency was finally approved.
READ MORE: Tunisian man seeks permanent residency in New Brunswick
What was the first thing he did? He went out to dinner with friends and ordered chicken parmesan.
“I forgot what chicken parmesan tastes like,” he said with a laugh.
He says he’s thrilled to be able to “get back to life.”
“I’m very happy now because everything is done. And I have a new life.”
Maazaoui converted from Islam to Christianity when he was 19, and fled Tunisia with his adopted family because he feared persecution. The family moved to Canada in 2011.
While his family was granted permanent resident status, Maazaoui’s application was rejected because of a problem with the deadline.
WATCH: Man who has taken refuge in a Shediac, N.B. church since 2015 hopes to make Canada home
He then took sanctuary at the Shediac Bay Community Church, while the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic helped him with his case by applying on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
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“Personally, I kept just not trying to imagine if the application got refused because I don’t want to think about what he could have faced if he goes back to his country,” said Akram Bensalah, the clinic’s executive director.
In a letter to the community, Maazaoui thanked the community for their support over the past two and a half years. He tells Global News he re-wrote the letter at least seven times “to get the right words.”
“Your moral and physical support has contributed in keeping my hopes up during the last two years and five months. Many of you have never met me but yet you defended my cause, I will forever be thankful for what you have done for me,” he wrote.
The clinic is now helping Maazaoui obtain a work permit, and he says he is eager to get a job and eventually attend university.
He’s also looking forward to doing something most Canadians dread.
“Pay my taxes,” he said with a chuckle.
Like family
Maazaoui says the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic has become like family to him and credits them for his newfound freedom.
“They worked hard. Day and night,” he said.
READ: Canada readies for potential refugee influx as U.S. ends protection status for Nicaragua
Bensalah says Maazaoui is like family too. The executive director is also from Tunisia and came to Canada five years ago seeking refugee status. Back then, there was no legal aid for claimants like him.
Now, there is.
“It’s very important that people who are escaping persecution and who are escaping wars or threats that they can have a fair judgement from (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada),” said Bensalah.
“It’s very important for the clinic to win this case because in a way we are putting in practice what our belief is: that all people must have legal aid and that all people must have protection here in Canada if they are threatened.”
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