Rights abuse: Canada denies entry to retd officer
Relations between India and Canada, marred by recent friction, could take another hit as a retired senior CRPF officer was denied entry at Vancouver airport last week, partly because immigration authorities deemed him to have served a government that engages in “terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide”.
Tejinder Singh Dhillon, who retired with the rank of inspector general of police from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 2010, was declared inadmissible under a subsection of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
A document given to Dhillon at the airport stated he was a “prescribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the Minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity”. This startling condemnation was removed in a second report issued by immigration authorities at Vancouver airport. However, they still held he could not be granted entry as he had served with the CRPF, which had “committed widespread and systemic human rights abuses, for example torture, arbitrary detention, murder and sexual assault”.
In a telephone conversation from Ludhiana, where Dhillon returned after being denied entry, the former officer said he had been travelling to Canada for more than 30 years and had visited several times as a serving officer of the CRPF. He said he had a Canadian visa issued in India that was valid till 2024.
Given the grave implications this action could have for bilateral relations, the Hindustan Times sought comment from Global Affairs Canada, which only responded: “Please contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.”
A reply from the immigration department is yet to be received, nor has one been forthcoming from the Canadian Border Services Agency.
A senior Indian official said New Delhi will raise this matter with the Justin Trudeau government in Ottawa.
As he emplaned in Frankfurt for Vancouver after spending some time in Europe with his wife and daughter, the 67-yearold Dhillon never expected such a reception in Canada, a country he had visited frequently, including for joint programmes with his counterparts.
“It is very upsetting. I have seen many crises, but this is very difficult to bear,” Dhillon said.