Snowden Refugees Pin Hopes On Family Ties

A previously undisclosed link between two ‘Snowden Refugees’ will help pressure the Canadian government to accept the remaining asylum seekers who are currently facing deportation in Hong Kong, according to their lawyer Robert Tibbo.

Vanessa Mae Rodel and her daughter Keana left the SAR on Monday to begin a new life in Canada after being accepted as refugees, and Tibbo has revealed to RTHK that the seven-year-old’s father is another of the claimants who helped shelter NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013.

“Her father is Supun [Kellapatha], and she has a step-sister and a step-brother: Sethumdi and Dinath,” Tibbo said.

He said there is grave concern that Keana may never see them again.

Kellapatha is now married to another Sri Lankan asylum-seeker, Nadeeka Nonis. Both of their Hong Kong-born children are stateless.

“We have a situation where… Keana is being separated from her father and step-siblings,” he said. “In my view, this is wrong in principle. The UN guidelines clearly set out that families shouldn’t be separated.”

Speaking before she left Hong Kong, Rodel said while she and Kellapatha lead separate lives, her daughter still needs her family and father.

“I think Keana should have a father,” she said. “They are family, we are family, so I hope Canada will think about letting them come to Canada.”

Tibbo and his colleagues from the non-profit For the Refugees group, which has been supporting all the families, are pressing the Canadian government to expedite their asylum applications, but time is running out.

The families asylum applications were rejected by the Director of Immigration in May 2017, and were appealed. But Supun and Nadeeka’s appeals at the Torture Claims Appeal Board were rejected, and a judicial review has been filed in the High Court.

Marc-Andre Seguin, from For the Refugees, said the decade-long battle for recognition has been taking its toll on the families – especially Kellapatha, and the fifth Snowden refugee, Ajith Pushpakumara.

“Both have been hospitalised in the past month, both have had a history of episodes of extreme crisis that required direct interventions on the ground,” he said.

“These are things that have been communicated to the Canadian authorities, and we do ask that they act quickly because clearly we have reached a breaking point for both of them.”

Tibbo said the way his clients have been treated by Hong Kong authorities amounts to a humanitarian crisis.

“The Hong Kong government has acted horrifically, acted egregiously,” he said.

“Leaving Supun and his family… having their cases delayed since 2005. And what’s made it worse is the 0.5 percent acceptance rate [for asylum seekers in Hong Kong] – so he has no hope of ever succeeding through the Hong Kong asylum screening system.

“And what makes matters worse is Canada continues to delay – nothing good is coming out of this, [it’s] only getting worse.”

Rodel and Keana arrived in Toronto on Tuesday morning, becoming permanent Canadian residents. They are travelling to Montreal where For the Refugees will be responsible for meeting their basic needs and assisting their integration into Canadian society.