A Punjabi family that arrived in Canada in 2018 has been deported to India after Canadian authorities rejected its asylum claim and subsequent request to remain in the country on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.The family, originally from Punjab’s Jalandhar and residing in Quebec, had spent nearly eight years in Canada, where the parents worked, paid taxes and raised their two children.The family’s deportation came after their asylum application was rejected on the grounds that Canadian authorities did not accept their claim that they faced a threat to their lives in India.Their humanitarian and compassionate application was also rejected before they were put on a flight to India.Harish, the head of the family and a resident of Goraya in Jalandhar, worked as a truck driver in Canada for several years. His wife also worked while raising and educating their two children.The family’s two sons, Japesh, 14, and Gaulash, 12, have spent most of their childhood in Canada.Japesh said his childhood was spent in Canada and that his friends are also there. He said he feared feeling isolated after returning to India.Gaulash said he was being sent to a country he knew little about. He said he was four years old when his parents brought him to Canada and that he has no clear memories of India.According to the family, Canadian authorities informed them on September 4 that they would be deported on September 7 following the rejection of their asylum claim.Mustafa Hennawy, an activist with the Immigrant Worker Centre, criticised the deportation. He said Harish had contributed to the Canadian economy by working as a truck driver during the Covid-19 pandemic and described his deportation as an injustice.Hennawy also expressed concern over the impact of the decision on the family’s children, saying they had grown up in Canada and had developed their lives and social connections there.Why did the family seek asylum in Canada?Harish arrived in Canada on a visitor visa in 2018 and subsequently sought asylum. In his claim, he stated that he had run a grocery store in India and alleged that police, under pressure from a political leader, had harassed him by filing false cases against him.He also alleged that he was illegally detained between August 12 and August 19, 2017, and subjected to severe torture. He said the experience made him fear for his life and prompted him to seek safety in Canada.Canadian authorities, however, rejected the family’s asylum claim and did not accept the alleged threat to Harish’s life as grounds for protection.An official of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said that once a deportation order against an undocumented foreign national is issued and the person is taken into custody, the agency proceeds with removal from Canada.The family is among a large number of immigration cases involving individuals facing removal from Canada, with preparations for deportation continuing in cases where removal orders are in force.Inputs from Gurmalkiat Singh Kahlon, Vancouver