A Tamil family who lived in Montreal for five years was deported back to Sri Lanka after Canadian Government refused to give them a last-minute reprieve, according The Canadian Press.
Robert Rajaratnam Lawrence had said that he worked for the United Nations in Sri Lanka and his family came to Canada as refugees when they began receiving death threats and being pursued by masked motorcyclists.
Lawrence’s family includes his wife, three daughters, son and daughter-in-law and four-month-old baby. His 21-year-old daughter, Leony Pavithra Lawrence, who had been honoured by the Montreal School Board has attracted a strong wave of sympathy since Wednesday. She is set to begin her studies at Ahuntsic College in January — she’s hoping to one day become a doctor. The parents had preferred to keep silent until Thursday the reasons that led them to leave their country in 2012, especially because they did not ‘want to present themselves as people who complain unnecessarily’.
The family arrived as refugee claimants and have since found jobs or academic success. But their refugee claims were not approved. Their flight back to Sri Lanka took off at 8:10 p.m. on Sunday night almost three hours behind schedule.
Toronto’s Global News said it has reached out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who is also the family’s MP — for comment on the case, but the government says they are not able to speak about individual cases. However, the news channel has learned from senior government sources that the prime minister has had his staff provide considerable support to the family, but they say, at the end of the day, there is a process in place to adjudicate these matters and a decision has been rendered.
Several federal and provincial politicians as well as Amnesty International have called on the Canadian government to grant the family a reprieve. Quebec’s immigration minister also issued them selection certificates that could have paved the way to permanent residence if they were allowed to stay.
Robert Lawrence had said that he worked for the United Nations in Sri Lanka and his family came to Canada as refugees when they began receiving death threats and being pursued by masked motorcyclists
Their lawyer, Stéphane Handfield, said Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale chose not to use his discretionary power to suspend the deportation order and wrote to the family to indicate he would not intervene in their case.
Handfield said the family still fears persecution in their home country.
Lawrence, 51, said he had to write reports about the incidents he was observing in the field in Sri Lanka, something that did not please everyone, he said in the document presented to the Canadian authorities as part of his refugee claim. He prefers that groups or individuals who have threatened his family not be identified to protect his family who are still in Sri Lanka, as they may be subject to reprisals.
In 2009, he said he was intimidated by a man armed with an AK-47. In 2011, attackers threw projectiles at the family home. Starting in January 2012, Lawrence began to be followed by masked men on motorcycles every time he left the house. In August, a motorcyclist even grabbed his daughter’s arm as she walked toward the residence.
The family had applied for refugee status, which the Canadian authorities denied them. They then applied for humanitarian reasons, which was also rejected a few weeks ago.
Before leaving their home in Parc-Extension, Lawrence said they were all very sad, but still love Canada despite their deportation. “What can you do? We have to all obey the rules and regulations,” Lawrence told CBC News. “We enjoyed the last five years of our lives in Canada. Good lives.”
