CANADA – Farai Chigogora has been deported to Zimbabwe after losing a last minute bid to stay in Canada.
Chigogora, 21, was deported in connection with a 2012 home invasion in Cayuga, Ont., for which he eventually plead guilty to theft under $5,000 and served 15 months in jail.
Community groups in both Hamilton and Toronto had rallied behind Chigogora in the lead-up to his deportation, saying he had become a valuable member of the community. Some argued deporting Chigogora after he’d already served jail time amounted to double punishment.
The Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, introduced by the Harper government in 2012, has made it easier for the government to deport permanent residents, like Chigogora, who commit crimes in Canada.
In the past, criminals who were not Canadian citizens had to commit a crime serious enough to serve two years or more in prison to face deportation. Now a six month sentence is enough for someone like Chigogora to be deported.
Canada only resumed deporting people to Zimbabwe in December of 2014, after more than a decade-long moratorium due to unrest in the African country.
Chigogora had lived in Canada since he was 14.
In a video appeal posted to YouTube before his departure, Chigogora said: “there’s nothing for me in Zimbabwe.”
Chigogora’s supporters said he left Canada on a plane Tuesday evening. CBC
