Young refugee to stay in United States

COLUMBUS - A teen fighting deportation to Sri Lanka for fear he would be forced to fight in a civil war will be allowed to stay in the United States.

Senthan Mahendrarajah, 13, recently received a temporary residence card and is waiting for paperwork from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that would make his residence official.

"I'm legal now," he told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday.

It's been almost two years since Senthan's mother and an uncle in Sri Lanka sold their possessions to buy the boy a false passport and a plane ticket out of their war-torn Asian country.

The mother placed the boy on a plane to go to live with a relative in Vancouver, British Columbia. But he mistakenly got off the plane in Seattle and was taken into INS custody before his Ohio relatives picked him up.

Senthan's relatives said he would be at risk in his home country. He and his family are Tamils, an ethnic minority in a country controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

Tamil rebels have recruited Tamil boys to assist military and terrorist operations, according to court filings on the boy's behalf.

In February 2000, the Franklin County Juvenile Court awarded custody of the boy to an aunt and uncle who live in Columbus. The ruling helped the boy receive special immigration status from the INS, allowing him to remain in the United States until the case was settled.

"His mother and sister are still there," said his aunt, Visanthy Thavendrarajah. "He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, but we will support him to become an independent person and a good citizen."