A man born in St Kitts-Nevis, who reportedly fled his homeland after claiming he was the victim of repeated homophobic attacks, is facing deportation by Canadian authorities.
Rolson Ryan, age 31, has had his bid for asylum in Canada denied by the country’s Immigration and Refugee Board.
The Toronto Star reports that, despite Ryan saying that he would “face a serious possibility of persecution” as a gay man if he returned to his homeland, the Board denied the refugee claim because Judge Brenda Lloyd said “the Government of St Kitts and Nevis provides adequate protection to its citizens.”
A subsequent appeal to the refugee appeal tribunal was also rejected in 2014 on the same grounds.
The newspaper reports that Ryan was attacked twice by mobs and was subsequently taken to the hospital, but charged that “no police report was taken in either incident.”
He fled St Kitts-Nevis for Toronto in 2013 with help from Rainbow Railroad, a Toronto-based group that helps rescue sexual minorities abroad to safety in Canada.
