The 19-year-old, who is from Khabarovsk in eastern Russia, near the border with China, received notice at the end of 2022 that his claim for refugee status in Canada had been accepted.
“I no longer need to worry about going back to Russia. Obviously I felt, like, fully safe that I don’t need to go to Ukraine and take part in this war,” Modlyi said.
Modlyi was visiting his sister, Valeriia Granillo, in Grande Prairie, Alta., when Russia invaded Ukraine last February. Granillo, who moved to Canada in 2012 in search of better opportunities, now works in cancer care and is a Canadian citizen.
While he was in Canada, his parents received a conscription notice for him. That is when Modlyi said he decided to apply to become a refugee.
“There is no possibility for me to [go] home because I would be drafted [into] the war, and I don’t want to take part in it. I don’t want to kill innocent people in Ukraine,” he said.
Simon Yu, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Edmonton, represented Modlyi on his claim. He says the family provided newspaper articles that conscripts were being sent to the front lines and that soldiers from Modlyi’s region were involved in atrocities against civilians. (Samuel Martin/CBC)
Simon Yu, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Edmonton, worked with Modlyi on the claim. Modlyi was determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to be a Convention refugee — a status that is granted to someone who is outside their home country and is not able to return because of a “well-founded fear of persecution.”
“He and his sister and his parents back home strongly believed that if he goes back there, there would be a strong opportunity that he will be sent to the conflict area — he would be fighting in Ukraine,” the lawyer said.
Yu said the family provided newspaper articles that conscripts were being sent to the front lines and that the atrocities committed in Bucha, Ukraine, against civilians in the early days of the war involved soldiers from Modlyi’s region, all of which supported his refugee claim.
“It was a relief for me — and for both of them, too — because now we know that he doesn’t need to go back and face imminent danger, whether it’s a criminal prosecution by the government or being sent to fight in Ukraine,” Yu said.
Claims returning to pre-pandemic levels
The number of refugee claims from people from Russia are slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Statistics from Canada’s IRB show that 115 people applied for refugee status between Feb. 24, 2022, the start of the war, to Nov. 30, 2022.
During the same time period in 2021, claims from 47 people were referred to the board, compared with 24 in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and 96 in 2019.
Maria Popova, an associate professor at McGill University in Montreal who specializes in Russian politics, said Russia has had a very oppressive regime for at least 10 years that targeted political dissidents and LGBTQ individuals.
But she is surprised that the refugee claim numbers for 2022 are not higher.
“Launching a war of aggression like the Russian state has done against Ukraine, I would think that more people would have wanted to leave Russia as a sign of protest,” Popova said.
‘I miss my family’
Granillo, Modlyi’s sister, said the decision in favour of her brother’s refugee claim took a weight off her shoulders.
“All this time I’ve been thinking of him going back. What are we going to do?” she said.
Valeriia Granillo, Modlyi’s sister, moved to Canada in 2012 in search of better opportunities. She now works in cancer care and is a Canadian citizen. (Luke Ettinger/CBC)
But Granillo is clear that this is not how she hoped her brother would be able to stay in Canada.
“The price we pay as a humanity is so much,” she said, referring to the war. “How many people every day now are losing their lives?”
As for Modlyi, he is adjusting to his new life in Canada. He started working at a local McDonald’s, plays volleyball and wants to go back to school to become a pharmacist.
However, now that his claim has been accepted, Modlyi can never return to Russia, even if there is a regime change.
Granillo is hopeful, though, that, one day, she will be able to sponsor their parents to come to Canada so the family can be reunited.
“I miss my family. My mom and dad are still there,” Modlyi said. “That’s the only thing I missed about Russia, but hopefully we’ll see each other somewhere else.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
