'I just want to live a normal life'

Man came out as bisexual and undocumented to urge Canada to deliver on overdue permanent status plan

- NICHOLAS KEUNG

Charles Mwangi, from Kenya, is calling on Ottawa to deliver on a plan promised in 2021 to grant permanent residence to the tens of thousands of non-status migrants living in the shadows across Canada.

Charles Mwangi left Kenya so that he could feel more free to live as a bisexual man. He first worked in Afghanistan as a contractor for the US. military before making his way to Canada for asylum in 2019.

After exhausting all the appeals of his refused refugee claim, the Toronto personal support worker said he would rather remain undocumented in Canada than return to the closet, or worse, face death back home.

"It's hard and stressful without status, because you don't know what's going to happen to you the next day," said the 48-year-old, whose claim was refused in 2021 based on credibility because he was married to a woman and they had three children together. "I just want to live a normal life without fear."