An Indian asylum seeker recovering from heart surgery will be deported from Canada on September 30, a few weeks before he can receive a follow-up examination from a cardiologist prescribed by a hospital center in Montreal. A situation that, according to some, shows that not much importance is attached to the health status of the migrants detained at the Immigration Surveillance Center (CSI) in Laval.

Born in Bangladesh in 1966, Mr. Roy, who asked not to use his first name because of security risks stemming from his sexual orientation, emigrated to India with the rest of his family in the early 1970s as a liberation war threatened the lives of millions in his homeland. Mr. Roy and his relatives later received Indian citizenship.

Then, on May 21, 2014, the man arrived in Canada, where he sought asylum as his safety in India was at risk due to his homosexuality. “When his community found out he was gay, they threatened to kill him,” said Rahima Khatun, a volunteer member of Solidarity Across Borders who acted as a translator during an interview with the organization on Monday Duty with Mr. Roy speaking in Bengali.

Unable to obtain refugee status in Canada, Mr. Roy worked for several years in Montreal’s informal economy as a janitor or dishwasher before unsuccessfully submitting a new asylum application on humanitarian grounds last year. The man was then arrested and detained by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) at the CSI in Laval on May 19, nine years after his arrival in the country. For confidentiality reasons, the CBSA declined to provide details of the reasons for Mr. Roy’s detention.

“He was never accused of anything. His only crime was remaining in Canada without status,” says immigration lawyer Dan Bohbot, who represented the asylum seeker last year. The duty found no criminal record on behalf of the Indian migrant.

His only crime is remaining in Canada without status

The man then complained of chest pain to CSI staff in Laval, who, according to the collected witness statements, have since administered two paracetamol tablets (Tylenol) in the morning and evening. “He had this pain on and off for several days in the detention center,” notes Arnold Aberman, a general practitioner and member of the Let’s Take Care of Social Justice collective, who recently met Mr. Roy.

A hearing was subsequently held on August 25 before the Immigration and Refugees of Canada where Mr. Roy was ordered deported.

Operation and aftercare

During the same hearing, Mr. Roy informed the Commissioner in charge of adjudicating the case about his chest pain. The commissioner, who plays the role of a judge, then requested that Mr. Roy be treated at a hospital center in Montreal, where he was admitted on September 6. Three days later, the man underwent surgery for coronary artery disease before being sent back to the CSI buildings in Laval on September 12.

“He had blockages in several vessels in his heart, so yeah, it’s pretty serious. He could have easily died if he had not been operated on,” the D specifies^R Arnold Aberman. “It was really the judge’s intelligence that saved his life,” adds the doctor, who regrets that the Laval CSI did not take the initiative to have the Indian migrant’s heart problems examined and treated before this trial.

Mr Roy’s deportation to India is now scheduled for September 30. However, the medical report from the surgeon who performed coronary bypass surgery on Mr Roy mentions that he needs to be seen by a cardiologist for a follow-up examination within four to six weeks of his operation. A follow-up action that therefore cannot take place in Quebec if Mr. Roy is deported.

However, according to Arnold Aberman, it is important that Mr Roy is examined by a cardiologist during his recovery period. “It is really important to understand what the operation was like, whether he is still suffering and what the symptoms of his disease are,” he emphasizes. Such monitoring could, for example, determine whether Mr. Roy is at risk of having a heart attack, he explains.

In addition, according to Dan Bohbot, “deportation officers” have “discretionary powers” ​​that allow them to suspend a person’s expulsion from the country under certain circumstances, including the person’s health status. “They can use their good judgment to move forward or maintain a referral,” he notes. The lawyer therefore finds it “unusual” that Mr Roy’s expulsion has not been stayed.

For its part, the CBSA assures via email that if an inmate suffers from medical problems, its representatives “consult medical professionals and rely on their expertise to determine whether a person is fit to travel.” If a person’s health condition requires special attention or if a person suffers from an obvious illness, he or she will receive appropriate medical care as prescribed by a doctor.” However, the CBSA does not specify whether it ensures that this doctor practices in Quebec.

” I can not sleep “

Arnold Aberman also regrets that Mr Roy continues to have only access to paracetamol tablets to relieve the still significant pain in his chest and legs, which have become swollen since the operation he suffered. “They don’t give me any other medication. I can’t sleep, I can’t walk,” he also confessed Duty Mr. Roy.

“Unfortunately, the issue of medical negligence is nothing new in the Laval Migrant Prison », laments Amy Darwish, a member of the group Solidarity Without Borders. “This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this [parler] Cases of people not getting the care they need, just getting Tylenol, even if they have serious health problems,” she adds.

Mr Roy, for his part, fears he will be “on the street” if he is deported to India on Saturday. “If they send me back, there will be no one for me in India. I’m not married, I have no children, no relatives, nothing. »

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