‘We don’t have a life here’: family of ‘Snowden refugees’ torn apart as Canada considers asylum request

Sri Lankan family in Hong Kong who helped shelter American whistle-blower Edward Snowden say they fear for lives and call on Canada to grant them refuge

They also say that Keana – who has already been granted refuge in Montreal with her mother – should be given the chance to grow up with her father and siblings

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From left: Little Dinath, his dad Supun Thilina Kellapatha, and sister Sethumdi, make a video call to his half-sister Keana, 7, who is in Canada. Photo: Nora Tam

Raquel Carvalho

Published: 6:00am, 29 May 2019Updated: 1:56am, 26 Dec 2021

“I love you so, so, so much,” writes seven-year-old Sethumdi in a text message to her half-sister Keana.

They have the same father and were born just three months apart. But they are now more than 12,000km away from each other, because Keana and her mother, Vanessa Mae Rodel, flew to Canada in March after being granted asylum.

Sethumdi, who remains in Hong Kong with her parents and little brother – all asylum seekers – dreams about Keana’s life. In video chats, she admires Keana’s new bedroom and all the toys. She can see through the windows of her half-sister’s house a very different world.

Keana, on the other side of the line, tells Sethumdi about her new school in Montreal and the French lessons she has been taking.

But Sethumdi still lives in a cramped flat in Hong Kong, where she has little space to study or sleep properly. She has to share one double bed with her parents and her three-year-old brother.

And she is now raising more questions than ever.