The father of a Filipino girl who was granted asylum in Canada together with her mother for the shelter provided to fugitive former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is seeking asylum, according to the report of Agence France-Presse.
Supun Kellapatha, from Sri Lanka, is the father of seven-year-old Keana Rodel.
Rodel and her mother Vanessa are considered Snowden’s “Guardian Angels” for taking him in.
Kellapatha and Nadeeka Paththini and their two young children are facing deportation after their initial refugee claims in Hong Kong were rejected.
“My daughter should not be growing up in Canada without her father, and her half-sister and her half-brother,” Vanessa said.
“My family has been divided and I ask Canada to act now to bring the family all together.”
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, lawyer for the non-governmental group, For the Refugees, asked Canada on Wednesday to take Kellapatha and his family in as refugees, saying they were being persecuted in Hong Kong.
He also noted the precedent set by Germany in granting asylum to two democracy activists — Ray Wong and Alan Li.
Sri Lankan army deserter Ajit Kumara is also part of the group that assisted Snowden but is awaiting a decision by Hong Kong on whether he can travel.
Rodel and company hid Snowden in their Hong Kong apartments in 2013 when he was on the run after allegedly stealing highly classified NSA documents.
The documents revealed the existence of global surveillance programs run by the US National Security Agency (NSA) in cooperation with partners in Australia, Britain and Canada.
Snowden, who now lives in Russia, was charged in June 2013 in the United States with espionage and stealing state secrets.
