Applicants for refugee status who have assisted Edward Snowden in Hong Kong continue to Ottawa

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Edward Snowden

QMI agency

Monday, 17 July 2017 17:38

UPDATE
Monday, 17 July 2017 17:38

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OTTAWA – The three families who have offered support to Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013 before he became a fugitive prosecute the canadian government, which, according to them, is slow to process their requests for refugee status.

Further, an extraordinary measure, has been submitted by their lawyers at the federal Court of canada. According to the montreal organization For the refugees, “they will ask a judge […] to order the canadian government to meet its obligations to protect refugees, especially children, and to deal with the demands of the families immediately so that they can be relocated in Canada safely”.

The three families, called the “guardian angels” of Edward Snowden, have three young children, according To the refugees, which states that they are “facing systemic discrimination and social exclusion in Hong Kong as well as the persecution in their countries of origin”.

For refugees said to have filed last January, applications for private sponsorship for these asylum-seeking families.

“The requests have been forwarded to the consular office in canadian in Hong Kong at the beginning of the month of April but have not improved since,” said the organization on Monday. On 8 may, the Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship has recognized the urgency of the situation and is committed to expedite the processing of applications. However, the consulate general of canada reported in July that this is not the case; and the minister has not responded to requests for explanations.”

“The families are extremely vulnerable and are the subject of political persecution in Hong Kong, said Marc-André Séguin, one of the lawyers representing the families. Facing a deportation is imminent, the parents can be arrested at any time and separated from their minor children. If they are returned to their countries of origin in Sri Lanka or the Philippines, they will be imprisoned or even killed.”

For the agency For refugees, the legal action against the canadian government “could be the last hope for these families in search of safety”.