Paralyzed refugee claimant rejects $100,000 offer
Monday, March 3, 2008
A key supporter of a paralyzed refugee claimant living at the Guru Nanak Temple in Abbotsford, B.C., says Laibar Singh turned down a $100,000 offer to give up his attempts to remain in Canada and return home to India.
Maninder Gill, the owner of Surrey-based Radio India, said community leaders offered Singh $100,000 to agree to go back to India.
"If the government [does] not agree to give him permission to stay in Canada, even on the humanitarian basis, then … [it makes] no sense like, you know, to keep this on," Gill told CBC News Monday afternoon.
"We all agreed we can offer Laibar Singh $100,000 and if he'd agree then he can take that money and he can go back to India," he said.
But when the offer was made, Singh turned it down, saying he would rather remain in Canada, according to Gill.
Meanwhile, officials with the Canada Border Services Agency had given Singh's supporters, who include many prominent members of the Lower Mainland Sikh community, until Monday to give him up for deportation to India or forfeit a $50,000 bond they posted in August to secure his temporay release.
Singh's supporters said Monday afternoon the CBSA told them about the extension in the afternoon and they're still requesting a one-year extension to give Singh more time to recover from a stroke that left him paralyzed in 2006.
Harjap Grewal of the immigration rights group No One is Illegal said he is hoping an extension will be granted, preventing immediate attempts to deport Singh.
Singh came to Canada in 2003 on a forged passport and sought refugee status, claiming he would be persecuted by police in Punjab, where officials have accused him of links to separatist militants. His refugee claim was denied that year.
He suffered a massive stroke three years later that left him a quadriplegic and unable to care for himself. He has since argued he would die if deported to India because he wouldn't be able to get proper medical treatment.
Singh is living and getting medical care at the Guru Nanak Temple with the help of many prominent members of the Lower Mainland Sikh community.
His supporters have told CBC News that his condition is improving because of acupuncture treatment Singh has been receiving while in sanctuary.
Harpal Singh Nagra, one of Singh's key supporters, said on Feb. 27 he would consider allowing Singh to be returned to India.
Nagra, of the South Asian Human Rights Group that posted the $50,000 bond, said Singh's options are running out, and the best option for him may be to return home.
Deportation delayed 3 times
Singh has already narrowly avoided deportation on at least three occasions. The CBSA first ordered him deported on July 8, 2007. However, Singh sought sanctuary at the Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib Society temple in Abbotsford.
The CBSA arrested Singh on Aug. 13 at an Abbotsford hospital, after he left the Sikh temple to seek medical attention.
His supporters, led by Nagra, then posted the bond to secure Singh's freedom.
In December, in accordance with the terms of the bond, Singh's supporters brought him to the airport to hand him over to CBSA officials. But more than 1,000 supporters surrounded his taxi, preventing the officials from putting him on a flight to India.
The border officials eventually postponed Singh's deportation.
