Verdun, Quebec residents Samah and Tarek Khalifa, parents of two young Canadian-born children, are facing deportation to Egypt on August 29th, 2014. Samah and Tarek came to Canada seeking safety after fleeing violence in Egypt.  According to a recent Amnesty International report, violence in Egypt is at an "unprecedented scale", with thousands killed just since last year and ongoing human rights violations and state violence. Canada can not guarantee this family's safety if they are returned.

The Khalifas are my neighbours in Verdun. I am involved with SouthWest United Church and its Mission, located in Verdun Elementary School. We know the family through connections to our local mosque, as well as through their participation in our Good Food Box program (fresh fruits and vegetables). Both daughters attended the Rising Sun daycare which is attached to the school and Mission. Samah and Tarek are known and valued in the community as workers, parents and volunteers.

The Khalifas have lived in Canada for eight years. It is the only home the daughters, Sarah and Aisha, have ever known.  Aicha, almost 6, is eager to start kindergarten at the school her sister attends. Sarah, almost 8, was diagnosed with epilepsy at 3 years old. Since then she has been receiving excellent care at the Montreal Children's Hospital and is doing well.

I am told there is a significant difference in the quality and accessibility of medical services in Egypt and Canada, as well as in attitudes towards this condition. The family will not have access to the same quality of care in Egypt, or the same support in school that Sarah has received here and that has helped keep her epilepsy under control in Canada, her home country.

Samah and Tarek have spent years and thousands of dollars trying to secure permanent status here in Canada. Unfortunately they received poor legal advice. Despite their strong case both on Refugee and Humanitarian grounds, both of their applications were refused. Both legal and formal political avenues (through their Member of Parliament) have led to dead ends and they now face imminent deportation.

If this deportation order is not canceled, these parents face a gut-wrenching choice:remove the children to a country they have never known where the whole family may be in danger and where certainly Sarah’s health will be at risk, or leave their little girls behind not knowing when the family may be reunited.

Please ask Ministers Alexander and Blaney to stop this deportation and allow Samah and Tarek to stay in Canada on Humanitarian grounds. The two ministers have discretionary power to stop the deportation and grant permanent status to Tarek and Samah. They should use it.