Posted on 03/26/2019 1:09:44 PM PDT by Red Badger
A Filipino woman and her daughter who sheltered U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong have been granted asylum in Canada.
Vanessa Rodel, 42, and her 7-year-old daughter Keana Nihinsa, landed Monday night at Toronto Pearson International Airport after a flight from Hong Kong, The Globe and Mail reported.
The Filipino nationals were to arrive in Montreal Tuesday where they plan to make a home with the help of non-profit group For the Refugees that had sponsored them.
"I feel like I'm free," Rodel told reporters in Toronto. "I can sleep well."
Following their arrival in the Ontario capital, Snowden tweeted his appreciation to Canada.
"Thank you to everyone, in Canada and around the world, who made this possible," he wrote in French. "After so many years, the first of the families that helped me has a future. But the work is not over - with solidarity and compassion, Canada can save all of them."
Rodel and her daughter are not the only people seeking asylum in Canada after having sheltered Snowden following his escape from the states - there are five others who are looking to gain refugee status in Canada.
A Sri Lankan couple with two children and a man, also from Sri Lanka, are waiting for Canada to make a decision on their applications.
Lawyer Robert Tibbo, Snowden's lawyer in Canada, is urging the ruling Liberal government to accept the other asylum seekers.
"They all helped out on something extraordinary in helping Mr. Snowden, making their decisions of conscience to provide him shelter, humanity and empathy," Tibbo said.
The seven individuals had sheltered Snowden for two weeks in Hong Kong seven years ago after he leaked thousands of classified intelligence files and fled the United States. Tibbo, who was working as an immigration lawyer in Hong Kong then, introduced his clients to Snowden.
All of the refugees claim harrowing stories for asylum, the Montreal Gazette reported.
Rodel had been kidnapped, raped and sexually trafficked by the militant arm of the Philippines Communist party.
Ajith Pushpa Kumara was sexually assaulted by his superiors in the Sri Lankan army before being arrested and tortured.
Nadeeka Kuttige was raped and held captive by Sri Lankan government officials.
And her husband Partner Supun was nearly killed for being in a relationship with a woman connected to an opposing political party.
Snowden is now urging Canada to accept all of them.
"This is actually the easiest decision in the world for Canada to make because these people have the best case of any kind of asylum seeker you can imagine," Snowden said. "They've done no harm, they've only done good."
Snowden, a former National security Agency contractor who revealed a U.S. secret mass surveillance program, faces several felony charges in the states, including two counts under the Espionage Act.
Tibbo had attempted to gain the three families asylum in Hong Kong in 2017 but they were rejected.
This shouldn’t shock Americans. Canada also sheltered Benedict Arnold and the murderer Omar Khadr, and thousands of draft dodgers.
About Us | For the Refugees
https://fortherefugees.com/about-us
For the Refugees is a registered not-for-profit in Canada and a government-approved refugee sponsor. MARC-ANDRÉ SÉGUIN Marc-André is a Partner and co-founder of Exeo Attorneys, a Canadian immigration law firm.
MARC-ANDRE SEGUIN is registered attorney admitted in New York State in 2013
At the time, I hoped the guy would have been thrown in prison and jailed. But knowing what we now know about the illegal spying on Trump and his campaign, my opinion has changed........
The NSA program was never about surveillance of America's enemies. It was always about spying on any potential opponents of the Elites and the Deep State.
Same here. Snowden performed a public service. Very rough on the N S A but they exceeded their limitations and did it in very sloppy ways by allowing minimally vetted outside contractors to access their databases of communications. Then the anti Trump people in FBI etc came along and exploited these unprotected N S A databases some more to spy on Trump and his people.
Edward Snowden is a good guy. You might want to brush up a bit.
It was the head of the NSA who reported to Trump against Obama’s wishes that the Obama administration was abusing the system.
The problem never was the NSA. The problem was created by enemies of the US who were installed in and infiltrated the government for the express purpose of damaging our intelligence agencies. They’ve been trying this since the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom (NCPPF) was founded in 1997 by leftists and islamists hoping to undermine the 1996 antiterrorism laws. It was originally funded by IFCO, the same organization that was behind the founding of International ANSWER in the days immediately following 9/11. ANSWER had secured websites with suspicious names including references to the World Trade Center and Bush Regime in the summer of 2001 just BEFORE the 9/11 WTC attacks. ANSWER includes Ramsey Clark [attny for both Milosovic and Saddam Hussein, etc], and groups like WWP associated with North Korea.
They’ve been wanting a new “Church Commission” in spades.
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