Edward Snowden: Refugees Who Helped Him Seek Canada … – Time – TIME

Sri Lankan refugee Supun Thilina Kellapatha (3rd L), 32, his partner Nadeeka (L), 33, with their baby boy Dinath, daughter Sethumdi, 5, Sri Lankan refugee Ajith Puspa (3rd R), 45, and Filipino refugee Vanessa Rodel (R), 40, with her daughter Keana, 5, pose for a photo in front of the government buildings of Hong Kong on Feb. 23, 2017, after attending a press conference where they said Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Division (CID) is searching for them.ISAAC LAWRENCEAFP/Getty Images

Refugees who sheltered former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong are now seeking asylum in Canada, their lawyers said on Thursday.

The three families are at risk for persecution and grave consequences if they stay in Hong Kong, according to their layers from a non-profit called For the Refugees. More than ever, relocating our clients to Canada is a question of life and death, one of the Canadian attorneys, Marc-Andr Sguin, said in a statement.

Snowden fled the United States in 2013 after leaking thousands of files about the NSAs surveillance operations. The refugee families fed and housed him for two weeks before he left for Russia , according to the BBC .

In recent weeks, the refugees lawyers felt they needed to speed up their asylum process, Sguin told the South China Morning Post . Two of the refugees have said they are being pursued by police from Sri Lanka, where they are originally from, according to the newspaper. They fear the Sri Lankan government could torture them if they were captured.

Snowden tweeted about the effort to secure asylum for the refugees on Thursday, and others, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played the whistleblower in the recent film about him, have also tried to raise awareness, according to the BBC.

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Edward Snowden: Refugees Who Helped Him Seek Canada ... - Time - TIME