CANADA has granted a work permit to a Chinese fugitive charged with smuggling because he cannot be deported to a country suspected of torturing prisoners, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told lawmakers Thursday.
Kenney said Lai Changxing 'got a work permit from officials out of our Vancouver office,' in accordance with court rulings that, in some circumstances, allow foreigners blocked from deportation to be granted a work permit.
Normally, foreign wanted criminals are not granted refugee status by Canada and are deported to the country seeking to prosecute them. China's use of the death penalty and reputed abuse of prisoners, however, has made Canadian courts reject Lai's deportation.
Lai and his family fled to Canada in 1999 after China accused him of masterminding a six-billion-dollar smuggling ring.
Canadian officials refused Lai and his ex-wife Tsang Ming Na refugee status on grounds they were mere 'common criminals,' but attempts to extradite them and their three children have been repeatedly blocked by Canadian courts citing concerns about China's treatment of prisoners.
The case has long been a diplomatic thorn between Canada and China, as well as an international cause celebre in human rights circles.
China gave Canada a rare diplomatic assurance it would not execute Lai if he was found guilty, but a Canadian judge ruled in 2007 that risk assessments in the case failed to address the possibility that Lai might be tortured in China.
Source AFP
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