Father battles immigration to stay together

Hamilton native Ian Wilkie did not expect to face such resistance keeping his family together in Canada, his home country. Father to three children, ages six to 11, Wilkie is facing an uphill legal battle as he fights for his Egyptian wife Wafaa Abdou to be released from immigration detention.

Wilkie met Abdou when he was working as an English teacher at an American language centre in Egypt; she was his next-door neighbour. They eventually were married in 2001 and settled down in Damascus, the capital of Syria. Civil unrest in Syria propelled him to leave the country and his job. As the situation became more violent, Wilkie brought Abdou and his children back to Canada.

Front page story in The Women’s Press newspaper.