A former Russian spy-turned academic took sanctuary in a church on Tuesday to avoid deportation from Canada, a church member revealed.
Immigration officials had ordered Mikhail Lennikov to report on Wednesday for a flight to Vladivostok. His final legal appeal to remain in Canada with his wife Irina and their son Dmitri was denied on Monday by a judge.
Lennikov, 48, was offered sanctuary by pastor Richard Hergesheimer at First Lutheran Church in Vancouver.
“We will provide him with a safe place to stay until he is no longer under the threat of deportation,” Hergesheimer said.
Although there is no legal right to sanctuary in Canada, authorities often have not enforced deportation orders against migrants sheltering in religious institutions.
Some migrants have lived in churches or temples for months or years to avoid being apprehended.
“The government does not condone persons who have exhausted all legal avenues and are hiding in churches to avoid removal from Canada,” said Patrizia Giolpi, spokeswoman for Canada Border Services Agency.
“We have not entered in a church to arrest someone in the past, but there is no law preventing us from doing so, and decisions are made on a case by case basis,” she said.
In Ottawa, meanwhile, 23 opposition members of parliament petitioned the government asking it to halt the deportation order.
“The Lennikovs have made an invaluable contribution to the community and there are precedents for granting residence,” MP Peter Julian said.
Nearly 2,500 family supporters have also signed an Internet petition against the deportation.
Lennikov, who was recruited as a young student by the KGB and quit after five years, came to Canada on a study permit in 1997 to complete a master’s degree in Japanese literature.
The family’s applications for permanent resident status, since 1999, were refused under Canada’s ban on accepting immigrants who “engaged in acts of espionage or subversion against a democratic government, institution or process.”
In March federal officials granted Lennikov’s wife and son permission to remain on humanitarian grounds, but refused Lennikov “on security grounds,” said federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan.
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