Paralyzed refugee claimant avoids deportation again
<http://www.ctv.ca/generic/images/p.gif> http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080109/refugee_claiman t_080109/20080109?hub=CTVNewsAt11 CTV.ca News Staff Updated: Wed. Jan. 9 2008 9:20 PM ET Protected inside a temple in suburban Vancouver and surrounded by hundreds of cheering supporters Wednesday, paralyzed refugee claimant Laibar Singh managed to avoid deportation for the second time in a month. Singh, 48, was given notice that he was to be deported Tuesday night on the grounds he entered Canada on a fake passport in 2003, his lawyer Zool Suleman told CTV.ca. But spurred by local radio stations and community leaders in Surrey, B.C., some 300 supporters surrounded the temple overnight, holding signs that said, "Respect Sanctuary," and "Let Laibar Stay," he said. In a meeting at 5 a.m. Wednesday, border guards and the RCMP agreed to back down, he said. "There was a desire to effect a very quick removal," said Suleman. "But eventually they decided that it was not a good idea to remove him and they would respect the sanctuary." "Laibar is tired, but relieved," he said. "There is tremendous community here." It was a similar story on December 10, when a crowd of more than 1,000 protesters blocked a van carrying Singh to the Vancouver International Airport, where the Canadian Border Services Agency was intending to deport him. The crowd forced officials to cancel the event. Singh, who was left a quadriplegic after a massive stroke in 2006, was ordered to leave the country last year. Since Dec. 15, he has taken sanctuary at a Sikh temple in Surrey. The Punjabi man has said that the Indian government has wrongly accused him of having links to terrorism. CBSA officials refused to discuss Singh's case specifically, but told CTV in an email Wednesday that the fact that someone is hiding in a place of worship does not influence whether or not they will be removed. "The government is committed to enforcing removal orders in Canada," the email said. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, attending a federal-provincial ministers' meeting on emergency preparedness in Halifax, also avoided specifics but said people who've exhausted their refugee appeals should live up to their commitment to accept the results. Day rejected a suggestion the deportation order was effectively unenforceable in the face of protesters barring access to Singh. Border agents on the scene may feel that enforcing a deportation order could jeopardize public safety, he said. "But a removal order is a matter of law and we expect people in Canada to abide by our laws," said Day. With files from The Canadian Press [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
