Vancouver: A man who admitted he once led the British arm of a terrorist organization banned in Canada has been ruled inadmissible to this country, with the Immigration and Refugee Board saying he had to have known the Babbar Khalsa used violence in its quest for an independent Sikh state.
The board, in a ruling released to the public Friday, issued a deportation order against Gurmej Singh Gill. His case was referred to the board in November when he arrived in British Columbia for a visit. Two of his children live in this province.
Mr. Gill, 71, had told the board he never advocated for violence. He said the Babbar Khalsa in Britain was different from Babbar Khalsa International or groups in other countries, such as Canada.
But adjudicator Geoff Rempel, in his ruling, said the groups were one in the same, leaving Mr. Gill inadmissible to Canada because he was a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engaged in terrorism. The Babbar Khalsa has been linked to the Air India bombings that killed 331 people in June, 1985.
“I find it likely that Mr. Gill was aware of the BK/BKI’s terrorist actions during his tenure with the organization, whether or not he approved of them,” Mr. Rempel wrote.
25/04/14 The Globe and Mail
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The board, in a ruling released to the public Friday, issued a deportation order against Gurmej Singh Gill. His case was referred to the board in November when he arrived in British Columbia for a visit. Two of his children live in this province.
Mr. Gill, 71, had told the board he never advocated for violence. He said the Babbar Khalsa in Britain was different from Babbar Khalsa International or groups in other countries, such as Canada.
But adjudicator Geoff Rempel, in his ruling, said the groups were one in the same, leaving Mr. Gill inadmissible to Canada because he was a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engaged in terrorism. The Babbar Khalsa has been linked to the Air India bombings that killed 331 people in June, 1985.
“I find it likely that Mr. Gill was aware of the BK/BKI’s terrorist actions during his tenure with the organization, whether or not he approved of them,” Mr. Rempel wrote.
25/04/14 The Globe and Mail
