Judge overrules decision to free refugee with 54 convictions

tay

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In overruling release decisions for a man who has been in prison for more than three years because he won’t co-operate with his deportation, Chief Justice Paul S. Crampton issued a call to reconcile “the tensions in this court’s jurisprudence” on the thorny issue.

He landed soundly on the side of detention.

To do otherwise, he wrote, “would have the perverse effect of rewarding the detainee for his failure to co-operate with his removal.”

Such immigration conundrums are emerging with increasing frequency, with each individual case appearing as a bizarre oddity where a refugee is ordered out of Canada but cannot be deported.

As the cases accumulate, however, the IRB and the Federal Court are grappling with how long an unremovable non-citizen can be incarcerated before the government throws in the towel and lets him out.

The latest case, which drew Crampton into the fray, is that of Jacob Damiany Lunyamila, 40, of Vancouver.

Lunyamila arrived in Canada without any documentation after jumping off a ship and claiming refugee status in 1994 as a citizen of Rwanda. He was granted asylum in 1996.
If he were Canadian he would be free today to roam the streets as he has served his sentences. However, he is not Canadian.
From 1999 to 2013, he amassed 54 criminal convictions; 10 of which are for assaults, four for uttering threats and 13 for failing to appear in court. His most recent conviction, in 2014, is for sexual assault.

Court heard how he was found carrying a concealed axe and attacking strangers on the street in downtown Vancouver without provocation. Vancouver police called him a chronic offender and a persistent criminal.

He has, however, served his time for each conviction.

As Justice Sean Harrington said in an earlier Federal Court decision on his case: “If he were Canadian he would be free today to roam the streets as he has served his sentences. However, he is not Canadian. He came here as a refugee from Rwanda.”

Because of his criminality, Lunyamila was deemed inadmissible to Canada by the Canada Border Services Agency. He was ordered deported but that has so far been impossible as he refuses to sign documentation required by the Rwandan government to re-enter Rwanda.

Lunyamila vowed he will never co-operate.

CBSA officials believe Lunyamila is from Rwanda, but are also investigating if he is from Tanzania after a linguistics analysis pointed to the neighbouring country in east Africa.

Lunyamila denied being Tanzanian, but he has also insisted he was “a citizen of the earth.”

Federal judge overrules IRB decision to release violent refugee with 54 criminal convictions
 

Dixie Cup

Senate Member
Sep 16, 2006
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Wow - finally a judge that made the right decision. The hell with him signing anything - just ship him off and drop him off-the shore of Africa and leave him on his own. Maybe he'll drown!


JMHO
 

Mokkajava

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Nov 14, 2016
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Yes, the judge is making the right call here. He will probably cost us less locked up than free based on his history and indifference about his crimes...and he shouldn't be afforded the same rights as Canadian citizens when he is not, nor should be a Canadian.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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Whose taxes are paying for this? Give him visa-free access to our labour and business markets and let him sleep on a park bench starving if that's what he wants to do. If he finds work and can support himself, great. Otherwise, he himself will be begging to be sent back.

We always forget that the taxpayer is on the hook for this in the end.
 

davesmom

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Oct 11, 2015
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Whose taxes are paying for this? Give him visa-free access to our labour and business markets and let him sleep on a park bench starving if that's what he wants to do. If he finds work and can support himself, great. Otherwise, he himself will be begging to be sent back.

We always forget that the taxpayer is on the hook for this in the end.


That's great to an extent. But the thing is, when he's sleeping on a park bench and starving he will commit crimes to survive.
There has to be a way to get rid of undesirables who come here under false pretenses and break the law. Government is remiss in not amending the law to allow for the fast removal of such people.
Who cares what happens to him once he is off Canadian soil? Hell, rent a space somewhere in Siberia and pen up all such miscreant there!
 

Twila

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Mar 26, 2003
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why do we have to wait for him to sign something?

It seems strange. Maybe they should reform the law so that those who are NOT canadian and commit crimes are deported regardless of their signature.

Shouldn't be too hard. They can change the laws that protect the shores, the lands, etc. Why not change the laws to protect it's citizens.

OR if they're unwilling to change the laws maybe he needs some time at Colony Farm for the criminally insane? Get him some mental help, changes his ideas about following the law, do some recompense work and then let him go.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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May 28, 2007
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why do we have to wait for him to sign something?

It seems strange. Maybe they should reform the law so that those who are NOT canadian and commit crimes are deported regardless of their signature.

Shouldn't be too hard. They can change the laws that protect the shores, the lands, etc. Why not change the laws to protect it's citizens.

OR if they're unwilling to change the laws maybe he needs some time at Colony Farm for the criminally insane? Get him some mental help, changes his ideas about following the law, do some recompense work and then let him go.

I read it as Ruwanden law not Canadian.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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That's great to an extent. But the thing is, when he's sleeping on a park bench and starving he will commit crimes to survive.
There has to be a way to get rid of undesirables who come here under false pretenses and break the law. Government is remiss in not amending the law to allow for the fast removal of such people.
Who cares what happens to him once he is off Canadian soil? Hell, rent a space somewhere in Siberia and pen up all such miscreant there!

A prison in Canada would be cheaper than rent in Siberia. Then give him visa-free access to the Canadian labour and business markets if someone hires him, but he doesn't leave prison until someone hires him. In the end, he's probably stuck in prison then.

And we have to pay for it. But maybe reduce the cost through hard labour. They can fix and maintain the prison themselves. The inmates can work in the kitchen and cook their own meals, clean the prison, etc. Maybe some companies would like to hire prison labour and set up shop within the parameters of the prison? Just some thoughts.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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May 28, 2007
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A prison in Canada would be cheaper than rent in Siberia. Then give him visa-free access to the Canadian labour and business markets if someone hires him, but he doesn't leave prison until someone hires him. In the end, he's probably stuck in prison then.

And we have to pay for it. But maybe reduce the cost through hard labour. They can fix and maintain the prison themselves. The inmates can work in the kitchen and cook their own meals, clean the prison, etc. Maybe some companies would like to hire prison labour and set up shop within the parameters of the prison? Just some thoughts.

He is not welcome here. He is being deported. Why are we giving him a job when others could us it more? Let him rot or ship him out.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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He is not welcome here. He is being deported. Why are we giving him a job when others could us it more? Let him rot or ship him out.

Ship him to where? If we can't deport him, then let him work. I'd rather he support himself if possible than I support him. what about you? No wonder our taxes are so high.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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Svalbard?

But Svalbard has two conditions:

1. He can support himself.

2. he not commit an offence while there.

Though he can't commit an offence while there until he gets there, the first point could be problematic. I suppose the Government of Canada could ship him there with a guarantee that the Government of Canada will cover his bills while there. The problem with that is that with the cost of living there being quite high, it would be cheaper to just keep him in a Canadian jail.

Ooh... Now I just thought of something. The main industry there is mining. Send him to college to learn a trade or profession related to mining, upgrade his skills to those that are in demand in Svalbard, advertise him to companies in Svalbard or help him establish his own business there providing a product or service that's in demand there, provide initial settlement money, and bingo, ship him to Svalbard and he meets all the legal requirements to enter and remain in Svalbard.

Though that solution won't be cheap either given that a knowledge of Norwegian might be necessary for may of the jobs available there. We'd be paying for at least a few years of college and resettlement costs. And even with that, we'd need his cooperation.

But yes Eaglesmack, it is an option in theory.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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Ship him to where? If we can't deport him, then let him work. I'd rather he support himself if possible than I support him. what about you? No wonder our taxes are so high.

So the process of becoming Canadian is to do stuff completely despicable such they will be forced to release you and make you legal (in order to work)? And tell me he actually will and will not just continue his criminal ways.


You need to give your head a shake. Your idea is 1/2 baked.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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Oh, just read the article. Not just immigration violations but sexual assault. Unless he's rehabilitated, keep him in jail.

So the process of becoming Canadian is to do stuff completely despicable such they will be forced to release you and make you legal (in order to work)? And tell me he actually will and will not just continue his criminal ways.


You need to give your head a shake. Your idea is 1/2 baked.

Sorry, I just read the article. for some reason I was thinking immigration violations. now that we're talking about criminal offenses, that's a whole different ballgame. Until he's rehabilitated, hard labour is the way to go.

If we're talking only about immigration violations and he can't be deported, then yes, let him work and do business visa-free.

If we're talking about a criminal offense and we can't deport him, then he stays in prison and does hard labour until he cooperates, even if that means staying in prison for life.

Then again, he has served his time. If there is reason to believe that he might not re offend, we offer him the choice of finding work or staying in prison and do hard labour.
 

EagleSmack

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Feb 16, 2005
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Then again, he has served his time. If there is reason to believe that he might not re offend, we offer him the choice of finding work or staying in prison and do hard labour.

54 Convictions!

I would say there is an excellent chance he'll re-offend.