She was determined to be a Convention Refugee by the Immigration and Refugee Board. She applied for permanent resident status for herself, her four children and for her husband overseas, Mr. S, himself a victim of torture. As of May 2000 she had been waiting almost 5 years to see her husband.
Resident status is required before family reunion can occur.
For persons who are both mothers alone with children and victims of torture, the criteria are particularly hard to meet. It took Mrs K a long time to provide documentation to the satisfaction of the authorities and to reactivate her application. The effects of torture are more severe when there is separation from immediate family. To leave persons in protracted and uncertain procedures with separation from close family is to prolong the trauma. This could amount to cruel or inhumane treatment - prohibited by the Convention against Torture.