Nine-year-old deportee writes to Canadian minister

CANADA BORDER SERVICE AGENCY HAS ARRANGED TO HAVE THE FAMILY FLY TO COLOMBO ON MARCH 3

A Calgary family is facing deportation to Sri Lanka even though two of its children were born in Canada, CTV News reported last Tuesday.

The family’s eldest son, nine-yearold Maneth Fernando, penned a letter to Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino, in a last ditch effort to have the government’s intervention.

“Canada is a safe place with lots of good schools and my friends are here. If I go back, the kids in Sri Lankan schools will laugh at me because I can only speak English,” Maneth has told CTV News.

The letter indicates the boy is worried “something bad will happen” to his parents and younger siblings if they were sent back to Sri Lanka — the country where he and his parents were born.

The couple, Nishan Fernando and wife Sulakshana Hewage, have two Canadian-born children aged four years and 15 months.

The Canada Border Service Agency has arranged to have the family fly to Colombo on March 3 following years of court proceedings.

“There are two Canadian-born kids here and the only options that my clients were given is to put the Canadian-born into foster care and go back to Sri Lanka which is completely unacceptable,” said Udani Perera, the family’s lawyer.

The couple and their first born son came to Canada in 2012 after fleeing Sri Lanka. Fernando told Canadian immigration officials that his uncle had criminal ties and feared for his family’s safety.“we were seeking a safe place for my kids and family,” Fernando has told CTV News.