Lev Tahor claims children launched hunger strike as sect members try to flee Canada

A little-known ultra-orthodox Jewish sect is claiming mistreatment and persecution at the hands of Canadian children’s aid officials after Lev Tahor members fled the country with children that had been ordered into protective custody.

Now the group is claiming two children seized by Canadian officials have launched a hunger strike, suggest a long and drawn out battle is ahead.

Last month, an Ontario court ruled that 13 children should be removed from the Lev Tahor community on the grounds they were being neglected and abused. The children were allowed to remain with their families for 30 days pending an appeal, but the families recently fled from the country. While half of them were returned to Canada after raising alarms in Trinidad and Tobago, adults with six other children appear to have made it to Guatemala.

A Lev Tahor community website claims that a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old girl launched a hunger strike on Monday after being returned to Canada. The alert goes on to suggest that the older of the two was taken to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

[ Related: Lev Tahor case: 7 children taken by child services in Ontario ]

Lev Tahor adheres to the most theologically conservative form of Judaism and consider more liberal forms to be unauthentic. About 200 sect members, more than half of which are children, recently left Quebec to avoid a provincial child care ruling and established themselves in Ontario.

Conflict between Canadian law and the ultra-orthodox sect last came to a head in December, shortly after the group moved to Chatham, Ont. to escape a provincial child-welfare investigation.

An Ontario court ruled last month to adhere to a Quebec order to remove 13 children from the community.

It is likely this ruling played a role in the sect's decision to flee the country. The two families at the heart of the conflict flew south in recent weeks in an apparent effort to relocate to Guatemala.

Seven of the children, along with three adults, were stopped at a Trinidad and Tobago airport and returned to Canada. The children were placed in the custody of the Children's Aid Society.

At this point, remaining sect members seem to be scattered in the wind. Another six children appear to have arrived in Guatemala. It is not immediately clear if they will, or if they can, be returned to Canada.

Another two sect members, a 17-year-old mother and her five-month-old baby, were stopped at the Calgary airport on Saturday and flown back to Ontario. The mother was originally among those ordered into protective care by Quebec officials last year, but was ultimately excluded because of her age and position as a mother.

[ Related: Malaysia Airlines vows to support families of passengers on missing aircraft, including two Canadians ]

Lev Tahor members have denied the abuse of children and have compared their treatment to that of the Holocaust. In a recent interview with CBC News, one sect member pinned a gold Star of David on his chest, similar to those used by the Nazis before the Holocaust.

“[If you want to] hate me because I’m a Jew, hate me. But I’m a Jew. It’s what I am. Don’t say I abuse children because no one abused the children,” said 21-year-old member Joel Helbrans.

B’nai Brith Canada, which has previously spoken against the sect, has called the imagery unacceptable and "offensive."

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