Grief for Sudanese Canadian whose mother died waiting to come to Canada

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month when families gather, but for Sudanese Canadian El Bagir Abdulkarim, this year’s Ramadan is associated with mourning, after he lost his mother, who was in the middle of being sponsored to Canada.

Abdulkarim says his mother, who was battling illness, managed to escape to Egypt, where she later passed away.

“Mother died fleeing the Sudan war while waiting to come to Canada,” Adbulkarim tells OMNI News. “It’s going to be very tough. Even though we remembered her last night, because she was telling stories to my kids about Ramadan and reminding us about Ramadan and the value of sharing and helping others.”

Adbulkarim says he is angry and frustrated about what he claims is a delay in processing files for those fleeing the way. He filed his mother’s application in March 2024, but she died a year later, still waiting for that application to be processed. He says she was already dealing with a benign tumor for months and believes the stressful trip to Egypt to escape the war added even more pressure, especially after parting ways with her family.

“She got very sick, and that affected her movement and her speech,” he explains. “They had a hard trip to get out from Khartoum to the north, and then I helped them to travel to Egypt.”

Abdulkarim says the cost to sponsor his mother under the Sudan Permanent Resident pathway cost close to $10,000, but the payment was returned following his mother’s death. He wonders why, given the logistics and financial challenges people face coming from different war zones, they are not given the same means to come to Canada

“We want them, the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), to tell us why they put or categorize our program under the permanent resident? Why didn’t they use the same tool with Ukraine and others?”

In a statement to OMNI News, IRCC said the program was “designed to offer a long-term, stable solution for those with family in Canada and was introduced alongside other permanent and temporary measures.” It added that “when demand for a pathway exceeds the number of spaces set for a given year, processing times will be longer.”

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month when families gather, but for Sudanese Canadian El Bagir Abdulkarim, this year’s Ramadan is associated with mourning, after he lost his mother, who was in the middle of being sponsored to Canada. Abdulkarim says his mother, who was battling illness, managed to escape to Egypt, where  Canada 

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month when families gather, but for Sudanese Canadian El Bagir Abdulkarim, this year’s Ramadan is associated with mourning, after he lost his mother, who was in the middle of being sponsored to Canada.

Abdulkarim says his mother, who was battling illness, managed to escape to Egypt, where she later passed away.

“Mother died fleeing the Sudan war while waiting to come to Canada,” Adbulkarim tells OMNI News. “It’s going to be very tough. Even though we remembered her last night, because she was telling stories to my kids about Ramadan and reminding us about Ramadan and the value of sharing and helping others.”

Adbulkarim says he is angry and frustrated about what he claims is a delay in processing files for those fleeing the way. He filed his mother’s application in March 2024, but she died a year later, still waiting for that application to be processed. He says she was already dealing with a benign tumor for months and believes the stressful trip to Egypt to escape the war added even more pressure, especially after parting ways with her family.

“She got very sick, and that affected her movement and her speech,” he explains. “They had a hard trip to get out from Khartoum to the north, and then I helped them to travel to Egypt.”

Abdulkarim says the cost to sponsor his mother under the Sudan Permanent Resident pathway cost close to $10,000, but the payment was returned following his mother’s death. He wonders why, given the logistics and financial challenges people face coming from different war zones, they are not given the same means to come to Canada

“We want them, the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), to tell us why they put or categorize our program under the permanent resident? Why didn’t they use the same tool with Ukraine and others?”

In a statement to OMNI News, IRCC said the program was “designed to offer a long-term, stable solution for those with family in Canada and was introduced alongside other permanent and temporary measures.” It added that “when demand for a pathway exceeds the number of spaces set for a given year, processing times will be longer.”