B.C. girl forced to stay in Cuba, mom charged by police says

Last Updated: Thursday, October 5, 2006 | 11:53 AM ET

CBC News

Canada's Foreign Affairs Department is investigating the case of a nine-year-old B.C. girl who is allegedly being forced to stay behind with relatives in Cuba after her mother got into trouble with police during a recent trip to the country.

Dunia Garcia, 25, a Cuban-born permanent resident of Canada, said Wednesday that her daughter Amanda was not allowed to return with her to their home in Vernon, B.C., after the trip in August and is staying with family members in the capital of Havana.

Dunia and Amanda, who was also born in Cuba, are still considered Cuban citizens, having moved to Canada from Cuba three years ago.

Dunia said she was charged with assault after an incident involving a Cuban police officer at a check stop, held for two days, told not to leave the country, but suffered a miscarriage and then was allowed to return home to B.C.

Officials, however, ordered her daughter to stay to force Dunia to return to deal with the charge, she said.

The ordeal began when Dunia, five months pregnant at the time, visited her home country to see relatives. At the routine check stop, the police officer accused her of forging her Canadian documents. She insulted him and took his picture.

"I got mad and said, 'You're stupid,' " she said.

"I don't want to escape from what happened. I want to deal with it. But I don't want to have my daughter there and me here."

Before she left Cuba, Dunia suffered a miscarriage, which her common-law husband Dale Smith believes was triggered by the stress of the incident.

"It's a result of all the stress going on. She basically demanded they let her go, and they said, 'Yeah, you can go.' They said her daughter couldn't go back with her so she would return and deal with this situation with police," he said.

"They are holding her as collateral for her mom to come back to Cuba."

Canadian officials said they have limited influence in a case involving a mother and daughter who are still citizens of Cuba.