Paralysed refugee claimant moved without notifying border agency

Several community leaders confirmed Monday that the 48-year-old from Punjab was whisked away from Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh temple Friday night, under the cover of darkness and without prior notice to the Canadian Border Security Agency.

Singh is now resettled at the Kalgidhar Darbar Gurdwara, where he was originally taken by supporters last July to prevent his deportation back to India.

Abbotsford temple president Swarn Singh Gill said he didn't want to comment on what will happen next.

"It is too early for me to say anything. I still have to talk to his lawyer and to CBSA. We will sit down together," he said.

Gill signed a letter last August that allowed Singh to be released from CBSA detention into his care as long as the temple would "make Mr. Singh available for removal from Canada by CBSA at a time and place designated by CBSA," according to immigration documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

The Abbotsford temple then accompanied Singh by taxi to Vancouver International Airport in December, but protesters surrounded the cab and prevented Singh's removal.

Singh, who was paralysed after suffering a spinal infection in 2006, was then taken to a New Westminster temple for a few days before being dropped off at the Surrey temple three months ago.

CBSA attempted to deport Singh again in January, but supporters said he had taken sanctuary at Guru Nanak and that they would prevent his removal.

And on March 10, a $50,000 bond put up by a number of community groups and individuals was forfeited because Singh had not been surrendered for deportation.

Gill refused to comment on whether he would be prepared to sign another letter for the CBSA.

"We've got to talk to CBSA again and see what they say," said Gill, confirming that none of the forfeited cash was from his temple.

CBSA media officer Faith St. John said Monday that she was not aware Singh had been moved.

But she confirmed that the outstanding deportation and removal order remains in effect. She said she could not comment further.

Guru Nanak president Balwant Singh Gill said Singh refused to go along with the wishes of a community committee that wanted to ask the CBSA for an extension while agreeing that Singh would eventually return to India once his health had improved, and with community donations.

Earlier this month, Singh signed a letter giving the committee the power to negotiate on his behalf, but he later signed another letter saying only his lawyer could talk about his case to the CBSA.

"He was always double-crossing people who were helping him," Balwant Gill said Monday. "The Abbotsford people said they will take him down there so I said fine, take him."

Balwant Gill's Surrey temple lost the $10,000 it had contributed to the bond. And the temple paid about $6,000 for an aide to care for Singh during his stay in Surrey.

"We tried to compromise with CBSA but we couldn't do anything," Balwant Gill said. "The $50,000 is gone and it is hard for the community to get that kind of money."

Guru Nanak vice-president Sadhu Singh Samra said Singh has lost a lot of community support.

"People are fed up. Some people made this a political game. They made it a political football by supporting Mr. Laibar Singh," Samra said. "People are thinking that he should be sent back. Now there will be less support, and, moreover, the people are divided."

Samra said the most recent move was done "secretly" so that CBSA would not arrest Singh.

"Before moving they didn't tell because they were afraid the CBSA or the police would come in the way and they will pick him up," Samra said.

Singh came to Canada in 2003 on a false passport and later applied for refugee status. But he lost his case and all subsequent appeals, and a removal order was issued against him. He ended up in hospital in 2006 after the illness that left him paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.