By Sam Leishman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lethbridge Herald
The family of a Lethbridge man is running out of options to lay him to rest more than two years after his death.
Peter Teny Both left his family in Ethiopia about a decade ago to follow a job opportunity here in Lethbridge. Both’s daughter, Elizabeth Wal, told the Herald that Both would send money back home to pay for the family’s living expenses as he made arrangements for them to come and join him in Canada.
“My dad was everything to us,” says Wal. “He supported us financially, emotionally and he advised us to do good all the time when he called us here in Ethiopia. My dad was a great man who liked to help other people around him and he never looked down upon anybody.”
In a heartbreaking turn of events, Both died unexpectedly on March 9, 2023.
Nicolas Salmon, funeral director at Salmon and Sons Funeral Home, confirmed to the Herald that Both’s body was embalmed and has been held at the funeral home ever since.
Over the last two years, Wal, her step-mother and her two brothers have been denied three times for temporary resident visas in order to visit Canada for two weeks. Ethiopia is among a long list of countries in which travellers require visas in advance of arriving in Canada.
Denial letters from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) provided to the Herald by Salmon state that the government is not satisfied that the family will leave the country at the end of their stay, based upon a lack of sufficient funds.
“We do not have jobs because we are still students and our mom is a housewife with no job, too,” Wal explained. “The money we have in our bank account was the money our dad used to send us when he was still alive. The Ethiopian and South Sudan Nuer community in Canada are willing to take care of our flights and they are able to accommodate our stay.”
Wal says locals have already contributed $17,000 toward the family’s immigration lawyer and visa application fees. Another sum of money has been set aside to cover their flights and accommodations, if their visas are ever approved.
“This affects us mentally, physically, emotionally and financially. We didn’t even get to see each other for the last time. We didn’t get to tell him how much we love him and how much he meant to us. His only last wish was for his family to lay him down. We would like to make sure we witness that our dad is buried in our presence.”
Salmon says this is an extremely unusual situation and he’s been doing everything he can to advocate for the family, including writing a series of letters to government officials.
A response from IRCC says the department cannot comment on specific cases unless requested by the applicant or a designated representative, but immigration officers are expected to review “all applications objectively and consistently to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all applicants.” It goes on to explain that it is the applicant’s responsibility to provide documents that prove they have a valid reason to visit Canada, they are in good health, they have no criminal history and they have sufficient funds.
However, the letter warns that there is no specific document that can guarantee visa approval and the decision ultimately comes down to the officer’s independent opinion about the applicant’s intentions.
Wal says the family has provided all the documents requested by their immigration lawyer, but they have not come any closer to securing visas.
The next option is to transfer Both’s body to Ethiopia. Salmon says he’s helping the family start that process, but the Canadian government has already indicated that it will not help with the expenses. That cost will either be covered by the funds raised by the local community or by the funeral home.
Salmon says he just wants the family to have some sense of closure, and the funeral home is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
