Mask-wearing migrant ordered released

VANCOUVER – A young Asian man who made international headlines after he wore an elaborate disguise on a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver has been ordered released.

An Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator agreed Thursday to release the man on a $5,000 bond and other conditions.

Adjudicator Anita Merai-Schwartz said that even though he had used a smuggling operation to get to Canada, the debt to them appeared to have been paid and that any influence they might have had on him appeared to have diminished.

A family friend in Toronto told the board last week that he was willing to post the bond and take the young man into his home while he awaits for his refugee claim to be heard.

The adjudicator noted Thursday that the family friend could serve as a positive influence on the young man.

The Canada Border Services Agency had sought to keep the man in custody because of concerns he was a flight risk.

The man arrived in Vancouver last October after taking an Air Canada flight wearing a disguise that made him appear to be an elderly Caucasian man.

A confidential Canada Border Services Agency intelligence report – which included a photo of the man wearing the disguise – was subsequently leaked to CNN. The report characterized the incident as an "unbelievable case of concealment."

Hong Kong authorities announced earlier this year that they had arrested eight people, including a number of ground staff at Hong Kong International Airport, in connection with the operation and several other smuggling cases.

Last week, the soft-spoken man told the board through a Mandarin interpreter that he lied to federal authorities about certain details of his life, including his educational background, because the "snakehead" told him to, referring to a human smuggler who co-ordinates such operations.

Previous hearings have heard that the man’s family back in China took out a bank loan of $30,000 in order to pay the smugglers.

Merai-Schwartz said that once the man arrived at the Vancouver International Airport he was upfront with authorities about his intentions and that his deception ended.

While the case gained a lot of notoriety and media attention, it did not differ vastly from all the other cases the board hears each day, she said.

The adjudicator said the family friend – whom the young man calls "uncle" even though he is not a blood relative – appeared to be a man of "integrity" who had put up his own savings without guarantee it would be repaid if the bond was forfeited.

The man is expected to be on his way to Toronto on Friday.

Aside from the posting of the $5,000 bond, the man was told that he must also report once a week to the Canada Border Services Agency in Toronto.

He did not appear at Thursday’s hearing in person. Instead he listened over speaker phone from another floor.

A publication ban prevents disclosure of his name.

The Harper government has said that such human-smuggling operations undermine Canada’s security and that the practice is dangerous and exploitative.

But Daniel McLeod, the young man’s lawyer, has said that most asylum-seekers have no other choice but to use human smugglers in order to flee persecution in their home country.

McLeod told reporters his client is very happy with the decision.

"This is a very young man who’s been through a very difficult time," he said, adding his detention was "longer than it should’ve been."

McLeod said his client is aware of the headlines his case has generated and is a bit "baffled" by it all.

So, what happens to the mask?

"I very much doubt" CBSA will allow his client to get his mask back, McLeod said.