Refugee claimant thanks Sikh community in Abbotsford

A 48-year-old paralyzed man is expressing thanks to the Sikh community in Abbotsford, B.C., after a local temple offered him sanctuary on the verge of his deportation back to India.

Laiber Singh was to be deported on Sunday, buthe holed at the Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib Society temple instead.

"I don't want to go to India," he said."Why should I go to India?"

Singh told reporters he "will die" if he goes back.

The Canada Border Services Agency said Monday authorities will not try to remove Singh as long as he is on temple grounds.

"Well, there is no law preventing us from going into a church. However, we urge anyone who is under a removal order to abide by Canada's laws and leave Canada," said Faith St. John,the agency's B.C. spokeswoman.

"Historically, we have not gone into a church but there's no law preventing us from doing so," she said.

Community support

Swaran Singh Gill, president of the Abbotsford temple, told CBC News Monday that they have been receiving calls throughout the day from people who said they support Singh and who "want to donate money for this type of handicap."

Singh, who was healthy at the time,entered Canada on a false passport in 2003, according to news reports.He argued that he would be persecuted by police in the Indian state of Punjab, who have accused him of links toseparatist militants, but hisrefugee claim was denied that year.

Since then, he has had serious medical problems. After suffering an aneurysm, he is now in a wheelchair and needs regular dialysis. Heargues thatif he is deported to India, he will die because he won't be able toget proper medical treatment there.

Supporters at the temple have said they will take care of Singh while he stays there, including providing medical treatment and possibly bringing a portable dialysis machine. They said doctors and nurses have already volunteered to take care of him.

Harpal Nagra, from the South Asian Human Rights Group, said the Sikh community can take care of Singh while he argues to stay in Canada.

"This is a community responsibility now. And I think we will handle it, and the South Asian Human Rights Group," Nagra said. "Most of the Sikh community temple are with him. Why not? We will look after him."

If deported, Singh would require a special medical flight costing an estimated $70,000, which the federal government would have to cover.

Harsha Walia —from the Vancouver branch of No One is Illegal, an organization that promotes the rights of immigrants and refugees — said Singh's right to seek sanctuary in the temple should be honoured by authorities.

"I think the precedents have already been set, which is that sanctuary has been granted since the early 1980s," she said. "Of course, most of them have been in a church, but this is also a place of religion— it's a sacred place."

Walia said Singh will fight to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

"The reality is he will only receive the best medical treatment if his deportation order is stayed,"Walia said.

The Abbotsford police said they haveinformed Immigration of the situation and are waiting to see what they will be asked to do next.