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.
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
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