Dutchman deported by Canada after 59 years arrives back in NL

Len van Heest, deported to the Netherlands by Canada after 59 years, has arrived at Schiphol airport.

According to the AD, Van Heest was picked up at Schiphol by the Salvation Army via a side entrance to avoid the waiting press.

The Salvation Army provides a welcome service to several dozen Dutch nationals who are deported back to the Netherlands for various reasons every year.

Van Heest, 59, who speaks no Dutch and has no immediate family in the country, was expelled under a Canadian law that requires foreign nationals who go to prison for longer than six months to leave the country.

‘This is the only home I’ve ever known,’ Van Heest told CBC in an interview at Vancouver International Airport before boarding the plane. ‘And they’re kicking me out now…They’re sending me to a foreign country, they’re taking my mom away from me, all my friends. I’m devastated,’ he said.

CBC said that according to court documents, Van Heest has been convicted of more than 40 criminal charges between 1976 and 2013. He is said to be bi-polar.

Van Heest’s latest motion to stay in Vancouver was denied last Thursday. He had applied for permanent residence status based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and claims he has to look after his mother Trixie, who is now 81.

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