Paralyzed refugee claimant avoids deportation again

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.
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.
09/01/08 CTV.ca, Canada

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Categories: Airports Jan 2008, Foreign Jan 2008