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An Ottawa-born man who has served jail time for gun and drug offences has asked a Federal Court judge to declare him a Canadian citizen and end his debilitating episode of statelessness.
“I have no health care, nothing, even though I’ve lived here all my life,” Deepan Budlakoti, 24, said Monday outside the Federal Court hearing.
“I would like the court to give me back my citizenship so that I can go on with my life.”
The federal government, however, considers Budlakoti a foreign national and is trying to deport him for his “serious criminality,” which includes convictions in December 2010 for break and enter, intent to traffic in cocaine and the illegal transfer of a rifle.
But the Indian government doesn’t want him. Last year, it refused Canada’s request to issue the travel documents necessary to enact Budlakoti’s deportation, saying that he was not an Indian citizen.
That effectively left Budlakoti a man without a country.
Canadian officials contend he is not a citizen of this country since he was born to Indian parents working at the Indian High Commission in Ottawa in October 1989.
Unlike anyone else born in Canada, children born to foreign diplomatic staff do not automatically gain Canadian citizenship.
That’s where the Budlakoti case enters into a factual dispute that will ultimately have to be sorted out by Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan.
Budlakoti’s lawyer, Yavar Hameed, told court that his client’s parents — both are now Canadian citizens — left the employ of the Indian High Commission in June 1989, four months before their son was born.
He provided the court with two affidavits to support that position, including one from the former Indian High Commissioner to Canada.
S.J.S. Chhatwal said that he was preparing to retire in mid-1989 and so was encouraged his household staff to seek jobs elsewhere. He testified that Budlakoti’s parents — they had come to Canada in 1985 to cook, clean and garden for the ambassador — left the high commission in June 1989 to work for a doctor in Nepean.
That physician, Dr. Harsha Dehejia, confirmed in an affidavit that Budlakoti’s parents began to work for him at about that time.
Hameed also offered the court a copy of a Statement of Live Birth, which records Budlakoti’s birth date as Oct. 17, 1989 and gives his parent’s address as the same address as Dr. Dehejia’s Nepean home.
Taken together, Hameed argued, the evidence shows that Budlakoti’s parents had left the high commission by the time of his birth, giving him the automatic right to Canadian citizenship.
That belief, he said, was subsequently reinforced when he was twice issued a Canadian passport, and when his parents successfully applied for Canadian citizenship and no one raised questions about Budlakoti’s status.
Federal lawyer Korinda McLaine, however, said Budlakoti has never held Canadian citizenship. She presented the court with evidence that Budlakoti’s parents did not give up their diplomatic passports until January 1990 — months after Budlakoti was born — and did not leave the high commission’s employ, at least officially, until December 1989.
It means, she argued, that Budlakoti did not qualify for Canadian citizenship since he was born to foreign nationals employed by the Indian high commission.
McLaine also took issue with the characterization of Budlakoti as stateless since there’s no evidence that he has applied for citizenship either in Canada or India. She urged the court not to rule on the Budlakoti’s application until he has exhausted those normal channels.
Justice Phelan reserved his decision as to whether Budlakoti is a Canadian citizen, and if he’s not, whether his resulting statelessness offends Sect. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Outside court, Budlakoti said the legal limbo in which he lives makes it impossible to move on from the mistakes he made as a young man. He continues to live under strict conditions imposed by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. He must live with his parents in Nepean and faces a 9 p.m. curfew.
Budlakoti said he was laid off three months ago as a tow-truck driver as soon as his employer became aware of his situation.
“Everything has been a battle,” he said.
Budlakoti said he fears that if he remains stateless, he could be forced to live under government conditions for decades.
“It’s very stressful: it’s like being indefinitely detained,” he said. “You have all the rights of a citizen and then, by the stroke of a pen somewhere, you’re told that you’re no longer a citizen. There’s no process, no adjudicator, nothing, it’s just taken away.”
aduffy@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
“I have no health care, nothing, even though I’ve lived here all my life,” Deepan Budlakoti, 24, said Monday outside the Federal Court hearing.
“I would like the court to give me back my citizenship so that I can go on with my life.”
The federal government, however, considers Budlakoti a foreign national and is trying to deport him for his “serious criminality,” which includes convictions in December 2010 for break and enter, intent to traffic in cocaine and the illegal transfer of a rifle.
But the Indian government doesn’t want him. Last year, it refused Canada’s request to issue the travel documents necessary to enact Budlakoti’s deportation, saying that he was not an Indian citizen.
That effectively left Budlakoti a man without a country.
Canadian officials contend he is not a citizen of this country since he was born to Indian parents working at the Indian High Commission in Ottawa in October 1989.
Unlike anyone else born in Canada, children born to foreign diplomatic staff do not automatically gain Canadian citizenship.
That’s where the Budlakoti case enters into a factual dispute that will ultimately have to be sorted out by Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan.
Budlakoti’s lawyer, Yavar Hameed, told court that his client’s parents — both are now Canadian citizens — left the employ of the Indian High Commission in June 1989, four months before their son was born.
He provided the court with two affidavits to support that position, including one from the former Indian High Commissioner to Canada.
S.J.S. Chhatwal said that he was preparing to retire in mid-1989 and so was encouraged his household staff to seek jobs elsewhere. He testified that Budlakoti’s parents — they had come to Canada in 1985 to cook, clean and garden for the ambassador — left the high commission in June 1989 to work for a doctor in Nepean.
That physician, Dr. Harsha Dehejia, confirmed in an affidavit that Budlakoti’s parents began to work for him at about that time.
Hameed also offered the court a copy of a Statement of Live Birth, which records Budlakoti’s birth date as Oct. 17, 1989 and gives his parent’s address as the same address as Dr. Dehejia’s Nepean home.
Taken together, Hameed argued, the evidence shows that Budlakoti’s parents had left the high commission by the time of his birth, giving him the automatic right to Canadian citizenship.
That belief, he said, was subsequently reinforced when he was twice issued a Canadian passport, and when his parents successfully applied for Canadian citizenship and no one raised questions about Budlakoti’s status.
Federal lawyer Korinda McLaine, however, said Budlakoti has never held Canadian citizenship. She presented the court with evidence that Budlakoti’s parents did not give up their diplomatic passports until January 1990 — months after Budlakoti was born — and did not leave the high commission’s employ, at least officially, until December 1989.
It means, she argued, that Budlakoti did not qualify for Canadian citizenship since he was born to foreign nationals employed by the Indian high commission.
McLaine also took issue with the characterization of Budlakoti as stateless since there’s no evidence that he has applied for citizenship either in Canada or India. She urged the court not to rule on the Budlakoti’s application until he has exhausted those normal channels.
Justice Phelan reserved his decision as to whether Budlakoti is a Canadian citizen, and if he’s not, whether his resulting statelessness offends Sect. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Outside court, Budlakoti said the legal limbo in which he lives makes it impossible to move on from the mistakes he made as a young man. He continues to live under strict conditions imposed by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. He must live with his parents in Nepean and faces a 9 p.m. curfew.
Budlakoti said he was laid off three months ago as a tow-truck driver as soon as his employer became aware of his situation.
“Everything has been a battle,” he said.
Budlakoti said he fears that if he remains stateless, he could be forced to live under government conditions for decades.
“It’s very stressful: it’s like being indefinitely detained,” he said. “You have all the rights of a citizen and then, by the stroke of a pen somewhere, you’re told that you’re no longer a citizen. There’s no process, no adjudicator, nothing, it’s just taken away.”
aduffy@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
