This is the end of a long chapter for the two, but five other asylum seekers – three adults and two children – who also helped Snowden in 2013 still remain in Hong Kong.

“I have lived in depression, worrying a lot about Hong Kong police and Hong Kong immigration … I am looking forward to being in a less discriminatory environment,” said Rodel, who had filed an appeal in Hong Kong after her protection claim in the city was rejected in 2017.

“I was living in hell. Always afraid every time I had to report to the Hong Kong authorities that I could be arrested and separated from my daughter,” she added. “I felt there was no compassion and care in Hong Kong. I did not feel protected and they just treat you as a criminal.”

In 2002, Rodel fled sexual violence in the Philippines for Hong Kong, where she later filed a protection claim. She is one of four adult asylum seekers who housed Snowden in their tiny homes in the city for about two weeks in 2013, before he took a flight to Moscow.

Rejected by Hong Kong, first ‘Snowden refugees’ granted asylum in Canada

The ex-CIA analyst and former National Security Agency contractor had released a trove of classified documents showing the extent of electronic spying by the United States and other governments, and he was being hunted for one of the largest data leaks in American history.

Rodel can finally stop worrying about bureaucracy and court cases. “When I heard ‘Welcome to Canada’, it just put a big smile on my face,” she said.

“I don’t even feel tired after 15½ hours of flying. My life has changed … I am so excited that now we can even eat some food outside. I want to try maple syrup and do skating in the snow in Montreal with my daughter,” Rodel said.

“Even the idea of getting a SIM card under my name is great,” she said, referring to the restrictions she faced in Hong Kong.

Asylum seekers in Hong Kong are not allowed to work, and they often remain in limbo for several years while waiting for their cases to be processed.

“Keana is also very happy,” Rodel said. “It was her first time flying, but she never cried or complained.”

Upon landing in Toronto, Rodel received a health care certificate and a social security number. She and her daughter are now permanent residents of Canada, and they are expecting to receive their identity cards next week. In three years, they can get citizenship.

Rodel said they would be looking for a flat in Montreal in the coming few days as well as a school for Keana.

“And of course, we will be learning French. I am also looking forward to taking some lessons after so many years of not being able to do anything,” she said.

Rodel noted that her happiness was, however, not complete because the other asylum seekers who were in the same situation as her in Hong Kong were still waiting for Canada to accept their refugee claims.

“I am very sad because the others were left behind. I am really worried about them, especially the kids. I hope that the Canadian government understands that they deserve to be happy too,” she said.

Other than Rodel, a family of four from Sri Lanka – Supun Thilina Kellapatha, his wife Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis, and their two children – as well as Ajith Pushpakumara, a former soldier from the same country, also helped Snowden while he was in Hong Kong. Their protection claims in the city were all rejected by the local government in May 2017. Refugee claims had been filed in Canada on their behalf in January that year.

A previously undisclosed link between two of the refugees who sheltered Snowden was revealed on Tuesday in a press conference held in Toronto. Supun, who has meanwhile formed another family, is also the father of Keana.

Both Rodel and her lawyers argued that such ties are another reason for Supun’s family to be allowed to fly to Canada. “Keana should grow up with her father and stepbrother and stepsister,” Rodel said.

“It’s a bittersweet moment for the others. They see this is real and that it’s not just a dream. They are happy especially for Keana, and they feel this has the potential to reinforce their cases,” said Marc-André Séguin, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer who accompanied Rodel and Keana on the flight from Hong Kong to Canada on Monday.

“But they are also concerned and ask themselves ‘Why am I not flying with them?’” the lawyer said, noting that the others “live under tremendous pressure in Hong Kong”.

Séguin is one of the founders of For The Refugees, a Montreal-based non-profit that was launched in 2016 to support the asylum seekers who helped Snowden and sponsor them to come to Canada.

Snowden is also now calling on Canada to offer protection to the individuals who remain in Hong Kong.

“Thank you to all those in Canada and around the world who have made this possible,” he wrote in French on Twitter.

“After so many years, the first of the families who helped me is free and has a future. But the work is not over – with solidarity and compassion, Canada can save them all.”

Robert Tibbo, the lawyer who represented the asylum seekers in Hong Kong and who is now in Canada, is hoping for the same.

“I am exceptionally happy, as I have been fighting this case for years … But I am not happy about the decision of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration in not treating the others equally,” he said. “We hope that they end up doing the right thing.”

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