A Haitian-born man who was fighting deportation from Canada after serving a prison sentence for theft and assault was sent back to his native country this week.
This comes despite a UN ruling that said the expulsion would violate John Michael Dauphin's civil rights.
Dauphin, 22, was put on a private plane in Montreal and sent back to Haiti early on Monday, just hours before his immigration lawyer, Chantal Ianicello, was scheduled to argue for his release from detention, a request she said was supported by a UN Human Rights Committee ruling in Dauphin's favour.
"Immigration could have deported him at any time before today," Ianicello told CBC News. "They decided not to. They decided to wait for the [UN] decision and surprisingly, now that it is in his favour, they decided to remove him, without nobody knowing."
Dauphin's family did not know he was being sent away on Monday, and were planning a celebration after his immigration hearing, Ianicello said.
Now they are worried about his fate in Haiti, where they say he has no friends or relatives.
Dauphin was scheduled for deportation because of his criminal record. Under Canadian law, non-citizens can be returned to their home countries when they are sentenced to federal prison terms.
Attacked judge in 2005
Dauphin was sentenced to 33 months in jail after he attacked and robbed a Quebec court appeals judge in Old Montreal in 2005.
That's when he discovered his parents never obtained Canadian citizenship on his behalf, despite having moved to Montreal when he was two years old. Dauphin's brothers and sisters were all born in Canada and are citizens.
When Canada Border Services agents notified Dauphin he would be deported, he took his case to Geneva, Switzerland. A panel of the UN Human Rights Committee ruled it would be a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to deport him to Haiti, because he has no family or friends there.
Ianicello said she was going to use that ruling to convince the immigration panel that Dauphin is better off in Montreal with his family, now that he has paid his debt to society. She admitted Monday she has little recourse to help her client come back to Canada.
Canada's Border Services Agency did not return calls for comment on the case.
Source : CBC News - June 2009
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