A rare court hearing for a mentally ill Jamaican man who has been in prison for five years without charge, began on Tuesday in Canada as activists called for the Liberal government to overhaul an immigration system that can lead to indefinite detention.
At the hearing, Alvin Brown, 40, called for his release so he can access proper treatment for his schizophrenia and depression.
The Jamaican said the long incarceration, including stints in solitary confinement, has taken its toll on his mental health, especially because the prospects of freedom are so uncertain.
Although he became a permanent resident, the Canadian government deemed Brown inadmissible after 17 criminal convictions, most for drugs or weapons offences.
He served his time — the longest sentence being 14 months — but has been in immigration detention since September 2011, because of his inability to obtain travel documents.
The hearing got underway with a federal government lawyer saying Brown was due to be sent back to Jamaica on September 7.
Brown, who said he came to Canada when he was six or seven years old, testified he would be happy to go back to Jamaica even though he knows no one there and has few immediate prospects.
In the meantime, Canadian watchdog group, End Immigration Detention Network, has criticised the authorities treatment of the Jamaican.
Syed Hussan, Spokesman for the group, told Canadian media, ahead of Mr. Brown's hearing, that "the notion that he has done something that makes him removable; either that he has some sort of criminal issue that's developed somewhere else and should be the responsibility of someone else is absolutely absurd."
The three-day hearing resumes on Wednesday.
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