Success stories - Fatima: Journey to Canada – A Refugee’s Story

Fatima Bahir

June 2010

Watch the video

Fifteen years ago, Fatima Bahir was a young girl going to a school for refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan. Today, she is a Canadian citizen and Ottawa resident, ambitiously planning a career in the public service. When asked where she sees herself in five years, with a wide grin she replies “working as a director.” Currently employed as a Learning Consultant at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Ms. Bahir’s journey to Ottawa is far from ordinary.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1977, Ms. Bahir never dreamed that over a decade later her family would be forced to flee their home, a place where she had “great memories.” But by 1993, the fighting and violence had escalated to the point where it was no longer safe. Ms. Bahir’s family abandoned their home to pile into a crowded minivan and begin a perilous journey across the border. Their trip was marked by several checkpoints, with bribes demanded at each stop.

Pakistan proved to be a very different experience for Ms. Bahir – one she describes as “culture shock.” As a refugee, she lacked any sort of status or mobility rights. The only educational option was a strict girls-only refugee school supported by international organizations, where she took up residency for the following four years. Mornings consisted of lessons taught by university-educated teachers, who were also refugees. In the afternoons, Fatima would go to an English language school which was highly valued, especially “if you wanted get further, and go ahead with your life.”

She worked feverishly and quickly graduated high school, and then stayed to teach English in hopes of helping others. “No one wanted to be in a country where they had no rights, so the goal was to immigrate to Canada, or any country that would accept refugees and give them immigrant status—and to do that learning the language (English) would be the first step,” she says.

Her hard work caught the attention of coordinators with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), who recommended she apply to their Student Refugee Program. Once she was accepted into the program, she knew her “brighter future would happen.”

She was placed at Brandon University in Manitoba, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. Impressed by her achievements, WUSC nominated Ms. Bahir to join an internship program for refugees with CIC, entitled Young Newcomers Internship Program. Ms. Bahir’s internship was so successful, it led to a full-time position at CIC with a focus on e-learning projects in 2010.

This newly-minted Canadian citizen may not be Canadian by birth, but her journey to Canada serves as inspiration for the entire nation.

Read more Success Stories.