Yahya Samatar

Karin Gordon: First he flew from Somalia to Brazil, then hiked through the jungle to Colombia, then up through Central America and to the United States, where he was detained, according to Brandon Sun. Facing deportation, Samatar headed north until he found himself on the shore of the Red River. Yahya Samatar, 32, an aid worker, says he had to leave his children behind with relatives and flee his country after he was threatened by the terror group Al-Shabab. Although he wasn't exactly sure where he was, he believed crossing the river would land him on Canadian soil so he jumped in and swam across through the fast and frigid waters, wondering if he would encounter crocodiles as he would in rivers at home. Hospitality House Karin Gordon, who helps refugees settle in Winnipeg, says Samatar background as an aid worker makes his chances of being allowed to stay in Canada pretty good. "His life was truly under tremendous threat, and if he goes back to Somalia he will a dead man very shortly, says Gordon. Emerging on the other side, Samatar walked across several farms before meeting a Good Samaritan who gave him clothes and linked him with the Canadian Border Services Agency. "Actually, it was quite complicated, but sometimes you have to take a risk to save your life — that what I was doing," says Samatar. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.