A Somali man is looking back on a year-long year journey to Canada fraught with fear, frustration and now a chance at freedom.
Aid worker Yahya Samatar left four children at home after he was threatened by the terror group Al-Shabab.
Hospitality House Refugee Ministry said refugee claims in Manitoba are on the rise.
It said there were 56 in the past four months. The same number as all claims submitted last year.
Samatar’s journey highlights just how far people are willing to go to save their own life.
Thousands of migrants are fleeing Africa, many in cramped boats to Europe, but desperation and hope has others seeking less traditional routes.
"Actually, it was quite complicated but sometimes you have to take a risk to save your life that’s what I was doing," said Samatar along the banks of the Red River.
Samatar flew from Somalia to Brazil, hiked the jungle to Colombia up through Central America and to the United States, where he was detained.
Facing deportation, Samatar made his way north and found himself on the shore of Red River.
Not knowing where he was, he believed crossing it would land him finally on Canadian soil.
Despite the dangers of going into the Red River, he went in and swam in the fast and frigid waters.
After navigating across the river, Samatar walked across several farms before meeting a Good Samaritan, who gave him clothes and linked him with the Canadian Border Services Agency.
Hospitality House’s Karin Gordon helps refugees settle in Winnipeg.
"He's very motivated, excellent background in terms of his human rights worker, and his life was truly under tremendous threat, and if he goes back to Somalia he will a dead man very shortly,” said Gordon.
