Thousands of protesters gain a temporary stay for paralysed man 30 minutes before takeoff

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun | Monday, December 10, 2007

[Also see Aaron's report on this]

METRO VANCOUVER - An attempt to deport a paralysed man back to India on International Human Rights Day fell apart after a grass-roots protest at Vancouver International Airport Monday literally halted traffic and prevented border and immigration agents from taking custody of him.

By mid-afternoon the Canada Border Services Agency halted its plan to deport Laibar Singh after it concluded that it would be too risky for its agents to walk out to a waiting taxi in which the elderly man was sitting. Between them and the curb were as many as 2,000 protesters, many of them members of an Abbotsford-area Sikh temple that had rallied in support.

"For safety and security reasons Mr. Singh's removal has been delayed," Derek Mellon, a CBSA spokesman said, adding that the agency wouldn't discuss publicly any future attempts it may make to remove him.

Singh's reprieve became known a couple hours before, after CBSA officials told Vancouver International Airport's operations centre that they'd bent to the will of protesters and temporarily lifted the deportation order. The decision was made shortly before a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong was supposed to take off with Singh on board.

But in effect, Singh's removal was all but impossible after his taxi was surrounded by people who refused to let him be taken into YVR's international terminal.

CBSA told leaders of the protest that they wouldn't go out to the taxi and retrieve Singh because they believed people would get violent, according to one of the leaders.

Harsha Walia, a protest leader, said CBSA was trying to cast Singh's supporters as violent but she admitted that if officers were to try to get to him they would face angry crowds.

The drama started early Monday, when the South Asian-Canadian community flexed its considerable muscles, promising to abandon the Conservatives and boycott any airline that participates in Singh's deportation.

And there was even talk of passengers on the flight standing up as contentious objectors, preventing the aircraft from leaving the gate.

The government was seeking to deport Singh, who entered Canada from India in 2003 traveling on phoney documents and later suffered a stroke that left him a quadriplegic. Despite an outpouring of support from Abbotsford's Sikh community, he lost all subsequent appeals to remain in Canada, and the government said he didn't have any "significant ties" to the community.

But supporters who surrounded his taxi said he's got an entire community willing to look after him, and one business has even offered to put him on their payroll. Supporters were told that two doctors had certified Sunday night that Singh, who spent the night in Surrey Memorial Hospital, was unfit to fly.

Walia said those letters had been delivered to CBSA with no effect.

The temple that had offered sanctuary and had put up a $50,000 bond to ensure Singh would be at the airport on deportation day, said it has now stepped out of the picture and he is being looked after by others.

Swarn Singh Gill, the president of the Gurdwara Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib Society, said the temple had fulfilled its promise to CBSA to deliver Singh to the airport, but now it was up to others to help the paralysed man.

"I talked to CBSA and they agreed we had carried out our promise," Gill said. "It is now for others to decide what happens. If we take him back, we're afraid CBSA will come in the night and say "let's grab that guy when nobody is looking."

However, there was no shortage of offers to help. While Gill looked on, a cluster of protesters and leaders of other temples conferred with each other about where Singh should go.

"The Abbotsford temple says they don't want to take him back because of CBSA and the police," said Maninder Gill, one of the protest organizers, who owns Radio India.

"The community is planning now where we can take him, to one of the temples."

Maninder Gill said he had offered to repay the federal government $408,000 it says it has spent on Singh's medical bills, as well as $125,000 a year to ensure that Gill wouldn't be a burden on Canadian taxpayers. The government hasn't responded to his offer, he said.

For his part, Singh looked frail and somewhat confused about what was going on around him. Sitting in a wheelchair in the back of the taxi, his legs covered in a blanket, the man looked gaunt and ill. When asked by a reporter what he thought about what was going on, he could barely talk.

A translator said Singh was pleased at the support, and did not want to go back to India, where his future is uncertain.

Walia, from a group called No One Is Illegal, said CBSA had told her it had released him back to the community pending further arrangements.

"They said his deportation has been stayed for now and that they will be in touch with his legal counsel," Walia said.

A dozen RCMP officers stood at the rear of the crowd waiting patiently for instructions as YVR management tried unsuccessfully to convince protesters to move aside.

Throughout the day protesters, many who carried placards, chanted slogans against the federal Conservative government, which they accused of cruel behaviour for insisting Singh return to India where they say he would die without medical treatment.

"Is the Canadian government going to continue with an unjust deportation or are they going to hear us?" asked Walia.

"We will boycott any airline that takes him back," said Harpal Nagra, another protest organizer, to cheers from the crowd.

It was the federal government that got the roughest treatment, as protesters roared thunderously when Nagra said they should all vote for someone else in the next federal election.

"It will be known as Violation of International Human Rights Day after this, if they take him," said Hajap Grewal, one of Singh's supporters.

Singh's arrival was carefully orchestrated. The temple that sheltered him delivered him to the airport, but refused to help him in, saying it was the responsibility of CBSA and its medical team.

"We delivered him to the airport at 11:30 as CBSA told us to, but they have to go and get him with their medical team," said Surdev Singh Jatana, the general-secretary of the Gurdwara.

"He's got the support of the entire community."

Airport security managed to reroute people arriving at the departure terminals but the upper level road remained blocked by protesters right until Singh's taxi left for a trip back to Abbotsford. It remains unclear who is looking after him.

When the protest started, security turned around dozens of cars, buses and taxis stuck behind the crowd and diverted all other arrivals to the Level 2 one floor below.

YVR officials said no flights were delayed because of the protest.

The crowds had thinned out by 2:00 p.m., when airport officials announced the temporary stay of the deportation order. Five-hundred protesters and supporters stood by as the flight that Singh was to leave on closed its check-in. The flight, scheduled to leave at 2:30 p.m., left on time.