Failed refugee claimant heading home to Punjab

Metro Vancouver: Paralysed would-be refugee claimant Laibar Singh was to be put on a plane back to India Monday night after his failed bid to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds.
Well-wishers spent the day stopping by Abbotsford's Kalgidhar Darbar Sikh temple to say goodbye to Singh, who thwarted three earlier attempts by the Canada Border Services Agency to deport him.
Temple president Swarn Singh Gill said Monday many supporters were sad to see Singh go and were offering him cash to help with his care once he returns to his native state of Punjab.
"A lot of people have been coming by," Gill said.
He said Singh, 49, was to fly on a regular commercial flight, but that CBSA was sending a nurse to help the disabled man during the long journey.
"We are still very concerned about him," Gill said.
Singh announced through his lawyer and Gill two weeks ago that he was giving up sanctuary and would report to the CBSA to return to India. He said he missed his family and was too stressed out by fears he would be arrested if he had a medical emergency and had to leave the temple where he has stayed on and off since January 2007.
Singh arrived in Canada in 2003 on a false passport and later applied for refugee status. But he lost his case and all subsequent appeals, and a removal order was issued against him. He landed in hospital in 2006 after an illness left him paralysed and dependent on a wheelchair.
The Vancouver Sun first reported on his plight in June 2007 when it was learned he would be deported a few days later despite his then-fragile health. He took sanctuary in the Abbotsford temple the same day that the CBSA had chartered a flight to Delhi.
03/11/08 Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun/Canada.com, Canada

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008, Foreign Nov 2008