Canadian Islamist preacher deported from Philippines
A Canadian Islamic preacher detained for being a security threat in the Philippines was flown back to Canada after agreeing to be deported, the immigration bureau said yesterday.
Jamaican-born Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was returned to Canada late Saturday after being detained last weekend in the southern Philippines while on a lecture tour.
This came after immigration commissioners approved his request for voluntary deportation, effectively cutting short the deportation proceedings, the bureau said in a statement.
"He was charged for being an undesirable foreign national and for being inadmissible at the time of entry," the bureau said, explaining Philips' detention.
The bureau earlier said he was blacklisted based on information that he might conduct activities that were a threat to national security.
Police said Philips may have ties to extremist groups as they prevented him from holding a series of lectures in the south where the Philippine's restive Muslim minority is based.
In a post on his Facebook page dated September 14, Philips said: "Rejection can be utterly disappointing but we must never forget that every closed door is a redirection to what is better for us".
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