Oakville man detained in Egypt reunited with family

A Canadian man detained in Egypt for nearly a year and a half has been reunited with his family in Oakville, his family confirmed Thursday.

Yasser Ahmed Albaz landed at Toronto's Pearson Airport Thursday morning, his daughter Amal Albaz wrote on Facebook.

Our family's ordeal is finally coming to an end," she wrote, adding that her father's health has deteriorated. Our top priority will be his much needed medical treatment. We ask that he be given time to quietly heal from this ordeal and spend quality time with his family."

The federal government acknowledged Yasser's return to Canada. Global Affairs Canada is pleased that Yasser Ahmed Albaz has been reunited with his family here in Canada," said a spokesperson for the federal agency, who would not comment on details of the case, citing privacy.

Last month, the Albaz family learned that Yasser had developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and was briefly taken to hospital. The family led days of protests in front of the offices of seven federal MPs urging immediate action to return Yasser to Canada.

Yasser was detained without charge while coming home from a business trip in early 2019. He was held in Egypt's infamous Tora prison, notorious for human rights abuses and lack of basic hygiene.

The family has roots in Egypt and has travelled back and forth between Egypt and Canada without incident many times, Amal told the Star in June. My father is not political whatsoever. He's just a businessman."