FIVE REFUGEES WHO HELPED HIDE U.S. WHISTLEBLOWER EDWARD SNOWDEN ARE MAKING A NOVEL ARGUMENT IN THEIR BID TO COME TO CANADA: THEY CLAIM THEY WERE VICTIMS OF PERSECUTION IN HONG KONG.
Five refugees seek admittance into Canada
Armed with a precedent-setting decision from Germany, five refugees who helped hide whistleblower Edward Snowden are making a novel argument in their bid to be admitted to Canada: that they were victims of persecution by Hong Kong.
For years, the city-state was viewed in a similar light as democracies with generally positive human-rights records, making it difficult to claim asylum based on mistreatment by its authorities.
But the influence of mainland China since it took control of the enclave in 1997 has increasingly raised concerns about civil rights there. Earlier this month, two Hong Kong democracy activists revealed Germany had granted them refugee status, possibly the first such case in the world.
Now a Sri Lankan couple, their two children and a single Sri Lankan man hoping to obtain asylum in Canada are making a similar claim.
The adults have always complained of persecution in Sri Lanka itself, which is what prompted them to flee to Hong Kong several years ago. But the group is also arguing in their application to Canada that they’ve been subject to abuse by Hong Kong since their role in helping Snowden became public.
“The Canadian authorities, in their naivete, have failed to recognize what human rights lawyers on the ground see everyday,” Canadian lawyer Robert Tibbo said in an interview with the National Post. “And that is institutionalized discrimination and societal marginalization, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
Meanwhile, the refugees’ lawyers have also just filed a separate application asking that they be accepted as permanent residents in Canada on humanitarian grounds. Two of the “Snowden refugees” — a mother and her daughter — were admitted to Canada in March, but the girl’s father and half-siblings are among the five left in Hong Kong, a family separation that they argue is taking a serious psychological toll.
For two weeks in 2013, three separate Hong Kong refugee families — all represented by Tibbo, who was practicing in the territory at the time — hid Snowden as one of the century’s biggest stories unfolded. The U.S. National Security Agency programmer had just released stolen documents outlining various American and allied mass-surveillance programs, making him a wanted man.
Snowden eventually ended up in Russia, the refugees’ unique part in his tale only becoming public in 2016.
Since then, they and their lawyers allege, they’ve been subject to a concerted campaign of intimidation.
Hong Kong authorities have denied all of the allegations, saying the refugees and their lawyer were treated no differently than others in similar circumstances.
Underlying it all is the city’s dismal record with asylum seekers. Fewer than one per cent of refugee applicants are accepted, and most fight their cases in court without legal representation, said Tibbo.
In Germany, political activists Ray Wong and Alan Li revealed this month they had been given asylum after fleeing Hong Kong, where they faced rioting charges over a 2016 demonstration that turned into a clash with police.
China and pro-Beijing legislators in Hong Kong have decried the decision, portraying the pair as fugitives.
The parallel with the Snowden cases is not exact, but Tibbo argues the common denominator is Beijing’s interference in Hong Kong. He suspects China was behind the actions taken against him and his clients, to gather intelligence or clamp down on those who would help a whistleblower like Snowden.
That said, the five cannot make a formal claim to Canada of persecution by Hong Kong because they have no legal status in the city, despite having lived there for years, said Tibbo.
The separate humanitarian application was filed with the Canadian consulate in Hong Kong earlier this month.
Vanessa Rodel, who was accepted as a refugee with her daughter Keana in March, had earlier had a relationship with Supun Kellapatha, one of the other five. Keana is half-sister to Kellapatha’s other two children, and daughter Sethmundi had counted Keana as her best friend.
A psychologist in Hong Kong who assessed sevenyear-old Sethmundi recently said she’s now showing signs of depression, says Cliche-Rivard.
“For that little girl, who has been living with so much discrimination in her life, to lose her best friend was something very traumatic,” he said. “Some mornings … it’s almost impossible to get her out of bed.”
SOME MORNINGS … IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET HER OUT OF BED.