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Woman pleads for family after daughter killed in Haiti

Marie Yvena Senatus-Prince said her daughter went missing in Haiti on May 17.

The federal NDP is calling on the Canadian government to end the delay in an Ottawa woman's application to bring her family from Haiti, after she said her daughter was killed by kidnappers in that country.

Marie Yvena Senatus-Prince, a refugee, has been trying to sponsor her family to join her in Canada since 2010, before her daughter was kidnapped in May 2013.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada lists the average time to resolve files from Haiti at under 12 months.

On May 17, her youngest daughter, Emilyne disappeared. On May 20, kidnappers contacted Senatus-Prince and demanded $200,000 ransom. She said she gave them $45,000 because she did not have more.

Now that her daughter is dead, she said she worries about the safety of the rest of the family. She hopes to see her two children and grandchildren come to Canada.

"All I can do is sit here helplessly, and wait," she said in Creole.

The application faces delays that are attracting criticism over the handling of the file.

"I can only imagine what this mother is going through right now," said Jenny Simms, the NDP Immigration critic.

"Part of the troubling policy of this government is that they announce policy, make promises to some of the world's most vulnerable people ... but then not really expediting the application," said Simms.

Senatus-Prince said Haitian police told her that her daughter's body was found about two months ago.

She said the rest of her family in Haiti have been moved in secret from house to house, while threats continue from the same men who demanded ransom money for Emilyne.

A community advocacy group, Union des Haitians de L'Outaouais, has been helping Senatus-Prince navigate the system and get support from politicians like Simms.

Citizenship and Immigration told the CBC that it has been waiting for more information about a criminal charge against Senatus-Prince from the United States. The charge against her is for arriving in the States from Haiti with false documents, a frequent charge against refugee claimants.

Her lawyer, Joseph-Alphonse André said he was puzzled by the request, since the documents had already been sent out once before, but has now sent it out a second time.

André characterized the department's treatment of Senatus-Prince as "harassment."

Simms said she often hears of refugee claimants struggling with paperwork needs, but said the citizenship and immigration department does not properly communicate with the applicants.

André said he has been asking the department to urgently expedite the decision on humanitarian grounds so the family can be reunited in Canada.