Cbcnews-An openly gay and atheist University of Winnipeg student, Hazim Ismail, who was fear to go back to his own country,Malaysia.
He will be allowed to stay in Canada as his claim for refugee status has been accepted. His partner, friends and supporters hugged him after an Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada panel in Winnipeg announced its decision following a 20-minute hearing on Tuesday morning.
"It was overwhelming …show more content…
"This is one of those cases where the evidence is strong, my client is very credible and he has got tremendous public support, and all of that came together and he won his claim without too much struggle at the hearing room today."
Khan said Ismail will receive a written version of the decision in the next three to six weeks. With that document in hand, he can apply for a permanent resident status in Canada — a process that Khan estimates can take 10 to 13 months.
Ismail said his family, who are Muslim, disowned him and stopped paying for his education last year after learning he is gay and an atheist. His story was renowned after a GoFundMe campaign launched in December to help pay his tuition for the rest of his semester.
He said he once thought of returning to Malaysia and trying to live undercover there, but his case has since attracted media attention in his home country, along with homophobic comments and even threats from some members of the public