Toronto — Mahesh Deokaran and his wife Savitri are today unrestrained in their happiness. But this was only since February of this year when they received confirmation from Citizenship and Immigration that their claim for Convention Refugee status had been granted.

And for this, they are profuse in their praises for well known Toronto solicitor, Chet Sharma.

The couple fled their native Guyana in July 1998 with their daughter Priya because they feared for their safety. The Deokarans charged that their membership in "an opposition political party" resulted in beatings, threats and damage to their properties. Mahesh, 29, stated that he and his wife managed their family-owned import-export business located at Grove, East Bank, Demerara. Their businessplace was torched in February 1997 in one of several deliberate acts designed to silence him from holding his political opinion. He was beaten in June 1998 and his assailants robbed his wife who was managing their business at the time.

Mahesh claimed that the persons involved in the beating and robbery are known to them and were identified but the authorities took no action against them.

The family left Guyana to escape the nightmares they said "are so commonplace among people who are not of the right race or do not have the right political belief." But here in Canada new and unanticipated hurdles and headaches were to come their way.

According to Mahesh, in 1998 they fell into the hands of a Toronto consultant who advised him to make an application on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds. Three years later, that application was rejected. It was then that the Deokarans turned to legal counsel, Mr Chet Sharma.

Mr Sharma explained to Indo Caribbean World that Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) considerations were not appropriate in the circumstances surrounding the case of this family. According to Mr. Sharma one can apply for permanent residency under H&C Grounds if they are spouses, dependent children, parents or grandparents of permanent residents of Canadian citizens or have been here for some time and can show they are established and integrated into the society, a process that takes several years; or if they can prove inability to leave Canada for reasons beyond their control and Personalized Risk.

The lawyer advised the Deokarans that they had a just case as Convention Refugee applicants and proceeded with their matter accordingly. He informed this newspaper that "the Refugee Board was convinced that the Deokarans’ claim was realistically based."

Asked to comment on the Guyana government’s inability to protect its citizens, Mr Sharma stated: "In Refugee Law, the State which ignores or is unable to respond to legitimate expectations of protection, fails to comply with its most basic duty; intention to harm on the part of the state is irrelevant. Whether as a result of commission, omission or incapacity, it remains that people are denied access to basic guarantees of human dignity and therefore merit refugee protection through Refugee Law."

The Deokarans, meanwhile, express their gratitude to Canada and its people for the love and affection shown to them. Mahesh, who started out in Toronto as a dish washer, is now a well trained cook and is very proud of his progress. The family has acquired not only their own home but also a new member who, by birth, is a truly Canadian citizen.