A right-wing Canadian family was left stranded penniless in Russia after they moved to escape “LGBT ideology”, only to have their bank accounts frozen.
Arend Feenstra and his wife Anneesa made the decision to move their family of 10 to Russia a month ago, but their dream seemed to quickly go downhill upon their arrival.
The proceeds from the sale of her farm in rural Canada were immediately frozen as her Russian bank deemed the sum “suspicious,” and her struggles led Anneesa to burst into a tirade about her new home, which only worsened the situation. things.
In a since-deleted YouTube video, she criticized not being able to speak the language or solve her problems, saying she was “very disappointed in this country right now.”
‘I’m ready to get on a plane and get out of here. “We’ve hit the first hurdle where you have to resort to logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating,” he reportedly said.
After the video was deleted from his account. Acres of fieldArend shared a humiliating apology video in which she said her “thoughts are not always conveyed properly.”
in a follow-up video from February 11Arend said their funds were no longer frozen and they intend to remain in the former Soviet nation “for the long term.”
Arend Feenstra and his wife Anneesa (pictured together) have attracted attention after moving their family of 10 from rural Canada to Russia to escape “LGBT ideology”.
The right-wing family’s decision was hampered because their bank accounts were frozen as soon as they arrived in Russia.
When the family made the decision, Arend justified the decision in a press conference by saying that “Canada is not the same country it used to be.”
“We didn’t feel safe with our children there or in the future,” she said. ‘There is a lot of leftist ideology, LGBTQ, trans, just a lot of things that we don’t agree with that they teach there now.
‘We wanted to get away from that for our children. But also, for economic reasons, agriculture has better opportunities. “We felt Russia was the best.”
He insisted that Russia has the “strength” to “stand up to Western pressures” and that the Kremlin could keep “those things at bay” for years to come.
“Other countries are under Western influence and could not cope,” he concluded.
In previous videos, Arend allegedly ranted about her “disgust” at seeing “gay flags everywhere” in her neighborhood, stating that it was a bad thing that it was “openly celebrated and almost worshiped.”
The homophobic family’s decision to flee to Russia comes two years after the country passed one of the strictest anti-LGBT laws yet, effectively banning any public display of support for homosexuals.
Before moving, the family said they had received assurances from Russian officials that they would help them settle in the country.
However, once they arrived and transferred the money from the sale of their farm, an automated warning alerted the bank to the large sum and it was immediately frozen.
Despite the setbacks, Arend insisted they will remain in Russia, saying: “We are perfectly happy here, we are not planning to leave here, we are not trapped here, we are not hostages.”
Arend seen in his follow-up video after his wife’s rant, titled: ‘WE’RE SORRY AND WE WILL DO BETTER’
The homophobic family’s decision to flee to Russia comes two years after Vladimir Putin (pictured) passed one of the strictest anti-LGBT laws yet, effectively banning any public display of support for homosexuals.
Arend said in a YouTube clip that they were informed that the money looked suspicious and that they were subsequently left with almost nothing to live on as they could not access their funds.
The family’s decision hit another roadblock when they tried to unfreeze their money, because a lack of English speakers and their inability to speak Russian left them struggling.
Explaining the difficulties in her apology video, Arend said: “Although banks have been very frustrating for me in Canada, I know I can sit in a chair in front of someone and explain it to them.”
“And that’s the frustrating part.”
Amid her fury over her money being frozen, Anneesa reportedly took to her YouTube account to express her anger over her move to Russia.
‘I’m ready to get on a plane and get out of here. “We’ve reached the first hurdle where you have to resort to logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating,” he said in the video that was reportedly deleted.
Arend mentioned that he was “asked to remove” the video, however, he later claimed that Russian officials did not pressure him to remove it and that they edited the clip on their own.
He also stated that his family has no plans to leave Russia and is in it for the “long haul.”
In his apology video, Arend clarified that his wife was simply frustrated by the situation of their money being frozen and insisted that the rant was not directed at Russia as a nation.
Arend justified her family’s decision, urging “large families, Christian peasant families and conservative people” to follow them to Russia.
As the Feenstra family’s decision to move to Russia attracted media attention, Arend said she was aware of the coverage, but warned her followers that “the Western media for the most part is very biased, probably corrupt.”
“A lot of lies and nonsense are spread about us in the West,” he continued.
“We are very happy here, we do not plan to leave here, we are not trapped here, we are not hostages.”
Arend urged others to follow her move to the former Soviet state, claiming that officials “make it easy” for Americans to move to Russia.
“Especially large families, Christian farming families, conservative people, and they want them here… there is tons of land and opportunities here,” he added.
The Feenstras have accumulated more than 120,000 subscribers with their videos, however, the comments show that many do not welcome their move to Russia.
‘It went from a freedom index of 98/100 in Canada to 16/100 in Russia. Political rights get a whopping 5/40 and civil liberties 11/60. Omg good luck fam,” one said.
Arend also claimed that his videos “prove” that Russia has a free press, prompting viewers to challenge him to say anything negative about Vladimir Putin or the conflict in Ukraine in one of his videos.
Despite the criticism, Arend insists he has no regrets and is glad to have moved away from Canadian society.
“I just want to farm,” he concluded.
“I just want to farm and raise my children in what I believe is a free country.”
Some also warned that the family may want to be more careful with their criticism of Russia in the future, following the arrest and detention of numerous people for making complaints.