By IANS
Vancouver : Supporters of failed refugee claimant Laibar Singh, who Monday stand to lose their $50,000 bond for keeping him in Canada, have requested the authorities to delay its forfeiture and allow the disabled Indian to stay here for one year more for “proper” recovery.
Singh came to Canada on fake documents in 2003 and made aborted bids for refugee status even as he got paralysed in 2006. He was ordered to be deported last July but his supporters whisked him away from a hospital before he could be put on the plane to India.
They forcibly stopped two more deportation attempts by the Canadian Border Agency (CBSA) since December, gave him a shelter in a gurdwara and deposited a $50,000 bond to keep him temporarily.
With Monday being the forfeiture date for the bond if Singh was not handed over to the authorities for deportation, his supporters passed a “unanimous” resolution Sunday, seeking a one-year waiver on his deportation and bond forfeiture.
Balwant Gill, president of the Surrey Guru Nanak Sikh Temple where Singh was sheltered, said a letter was being sent to the CBSA to delay the forfeiture of the bond.
Gill said Singh was making “some recovery” and another yearlong medical care in Canada will help him recover enough to go back to India.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun quoted the authorities as saying that they had already spent about $500,000 on his medical care.
This amount does not include more than $60,000 spent on three bids – aborted by Singh’s supporters – to deport him to India.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has rejected the so-called sanctuary granted to Singh by Surrey Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, saying he will be deported at all costs.