'Returning to India means death': Montreal couple fights imminent deportation

Rajvinder Kaur and her husband Randhir Singh are spending what could be their last few weeks in Canada, fighting their imminent deportation back to India.

Their demand for refugee status was rejected despite claims they are the victims of political violence in their native Punjab region in northern India.

"We've been through a nightmare in India, including the arrest and torture of my husband," explains Kaur, a former village chief in a region where ethnic tensions between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are common.

Kaur says he was arrested and tortured by internal security police on suspicions he offered shelter to radicalized Sikhs seeking independence in the disputed region that straddles the Indian and Pakistani border.

The couple moved to another Indian state but faced the same pressure from security forces. They fled to Canada in late 2015.

"For me returning to India means death," says a tearful Singh through an interpreter.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) rejected their refugee claim, saying the couple could simply move to another region of India where there is no local ethnic tension.

The couple says that's not an option.

"We already tried moving to another state, but the anti-Sikh forces kept going after my husband," says Kaur.

Just a few weeks ago, the couple's adult son said his house was raided by security forces looking for Singh.

Their immigration lawyer Stewart Istvanffy says India changed considerably under current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a populist often accused of using nationalism and ethnic tensions for political gain.

"I've been representing Indian refugees for 30 years, but it has substantially changed in the last decade. Ever since Modi became the prime minister of India, the number of refugee claimants has shot up," says the Park-Extension-based lawyer.

Evidence of torture alone should have given the immigration commission a clue of the risks involved.

"There's a major human rights crisis in that country, and human rights are under attack," says Istvanffy.

When the deportation order was issued, Singh became so despondent that he attempted suicide.

He was already treated for post-traumatic stress disorder following his torture while detained. His doctor at the Montreal General Hospital said Singh's mental health would further decline if he were deported to India.

Isfvanffy says the couple's only hope now is an intervention from Canada's minister of immigration.

Otherwise, the pair, who have lived in Montreal for eight years, could be sent back to an uncertain fate in their homeland.

Responding on Monday, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said that due to privacy legislation, the agency cannot comment on individual cases.

A pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA), conducted by IRCC officials, evaluates whether a person would face persecution, torture, risk to life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, if removed from Canada, spokesperson Loïc Ouellette explained in a statement.

"The majority of PRRA applications come from refugee protection claimants that have had their risk previously assessed by the IRB. PRRA decisions may be judicially reviewed by the Federal Court," Ouellette wrote.

"Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the information presented by the applicant. All applicants are given the opportunity to present their case by providing documentary evidence and any other relevant information to support their application. The PRRA officer will also undertake research independent of the issues identified in the application. The research sources consulted by the PRRA officer will vary with each individual case," he said.