Mary Birdsell: Case and Rights Issues

mary birdsell: Because of the intersections of the different areas of law and the way that children's rights issues might be understood, or more specifically not understood, we want to make sure that they recognize those intricate ways that those child right issues are woven through the case, even if they're not front and centre, Mary Birdsell, executive director of JFCY told The Chronicle Herald, according to The Chronicle Herald. That's why we are interested in this case. Though Abdoul Kadir Abdi now 23 and the father of a little girl was an adult in 2014 when he committed an assault that landed him a five-and-a-half year federal prison sentence, the circumstances surrounding the case prompted lawyers from Justice for Children and Youth to get involved. Abdi was only six years old when he fled Somalia with his sister and two aunts after most of his family, including his parents, had been killed in the ongoing conflict that has torn the country apart for decades. In 2014 he plead guilty to aggravated assault as well as assaulting a police officer with a car, theft of a motor vehicle, and dangerous driving. He arrived in Nova Scotia as a child refugee, sponsored by Sydney River United Church, in August 2000 and received permanent resident status but never became a Canadian citizen. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.