Former Child Soldier Can Stay in Saskatoon
Stay of Deportation granted at last minute
A former child soldier who now calls Saskatoon home will not be deported.
Friday, Nay Myo Hein lost a stay of deportation and his lawyer told NewsTalk Radio that he was out of legal options. Facing a Tuesday flight back to his homeland of Burma, Hein was granted a stay Saturday by Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has also extended temporary Canadian residency to Hein - opening the door for him to apply for full residency, then citizenship.
Those involved with the case say part of the reason Hein came so close to being sent back to Burma, was his lack of legal council early on. Tin Maund Htoo, the CEO of Canadian Friends of Burma adds that the language barrier only worsened the issue.
"His answers, sometimes he didn't understand what kind of consequences they would have."
Htoo believes the judge who denied Hein's plea Friday took the situation in Burma too lightly. He says Hein would "be persecuted for sure" upon returning, for fleeing the military at age 13.
Hein worried that he would be viewed as a deserter and thrown in jail, or killed.
Comments
Im glad he is able to stay,
Im glad he is able to stay, what is unfortunate is that the system as it was designed to work, didn't in this case and now one person is receiving special treatment.
Hein
I am wondering how it is that he was allowed into the country in the first place- was this done as all immigrants are bound? i understand issues surrounding the 'child soldier', tho' books could never give a clear understanding/empathy... If it was done legally, he would not be in the legal situation he is now. It comes down to language barrier? Why then, is it my understanding that all immigrants must speak english? How is it that he fell through our legal cracks? He should be deported...but, then again, we- as a country, are known for allowing and hiding war criminals. He is a war criminal... why then are we protecting him. He may have been a 'child' but, we are forgetting the crimes and murders that he committed. He should not be treated any different than any other war criminal. How and why did he think he could get away in Canada? We let them. We give them free counsel, and the promise of future citizenship. This is not fair. He will get to walk freely in our cities knowing and remembering fully the horrific deeds he did in his country to innocent women, children etc.... should he be able to stay? He knows all he did and he should go back and face his consequence... deserter or not. Child warfare is not right and it is a two edged sword. What was he doing while here in Canada and for how long?