CBC News Article: Canadian Government Suspicious Of Tamil Migrants.
Tamil migrants to be investigated: Toews
Hundreds arriving in B.C. seek refugee protection
Last Updated: Friday, August 13, 2010 | 12:17 PM PT Comments1498Recommend346
CBC News
Tamil migrants look over the side of the MV Sun Sea. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)An estimated 490 Tamil migrants seeking refugee shelter in Canada will be investigated to determine whether there are “human smugglers or terrorists” among them, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Esquimalt, B.C., Toews said Canada has been “very welcoming” of refugees, but the government “must ensure that our refugee system is not hijacked by criminals or terrorists.”
The minister said the government will consider whether “further improvements” are needed to disrupt and deter criminal organizations and enterprises such as human smuggling, but gave no further details.
The Canada Border Services Agency will take the time necessary to identify and process all individuals who were on the ship in accordance with Canadian law, Toews said.
But the minister vowed any individuals who endanger national security or who have engaged in human smuggling “will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The migrants are believed to be Tamils from Sri Lanka who left their homeland in May aboard the MV Sun Sea. They arrived earlier Friday at CFB Esquimalt.
The government has said it believes some of the migrants are members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers, which has been outlawed in Canada as a terrorist group since 2006.
Canada Border Services agents are seen wearing surgical masks as they board the MV Sun Sea. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)Toews said the best way to deal with migrant ships is to wait until they enter Canadian waters.
“Intervening on the high seas brings certain legal obligations and a number of legal problems, and so it’s better to intercept them, I’m advised, inside of Canadian territorial waters.”
The 59-metre, Thai-owned cargo ship arrived at the base on Vancouver Island shortly before 6:30 a.m., escorted by two naval tugboats. It was docked about two hours later.
Border officers and other officials donned surgical masks and gloves before boarding the ship, in light of reports there may be passengers with infectious diseases on board. Some reports indicate several passengers may be infected with tuberculosis.
Officials erected large tarps to hide the ship’s passengers from the media as four buses and several ambulances waited to transport them.
During his news conference, Toews did not discuss the migrants’ conditions, saying only that the high number of passengers faced “certain difficulties in terms of living conditions” from such a long journey on a vessel that size.
The migrants are expected to be transported from CFB Esquimalt to various destinations, including Victoria General Hospital and the Wilkinson Road Jail in Victoria.
One bus is expected to be transported aboard an early-morning ferry to Vancouver to take women and children to the B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre.
The MV Sun Sea is escorted past Fisgard Lighthouse towards CFB Esquimalt on Friday morning. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)Naval and RCMP officers boarded the ship at about 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, to take control and steer it to Esquimalt.
Many on board are believed to have paid as much as $50,000 each for the trip.
Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada, Chitranganee Wagiswara, said that money would go toward to the Tamil Tigers and chided the federal government for not turning the ship away. “Human smuggling is a criminal activity,” he said.
Calling human smuggling “despicable,” “dangerous” and “irresponsible,” Gary Anandasangaree, general counsel for the Canadian Tamil Congress, also said the government should distinguish between the ship’s passengers.
“We’re not saying every single person on the boat should be accepted carte blanche,” Anandasangaree said. “Every single person should be assessed on their own merits and in accordance with Canada’s laws and our international obligations.”
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said the need for investigating and prosecuting human smugglers should not affect the rights of those seeking asylum in Canada.
Let refugee process work: Rae
“I think it is important for everybody to take a deep breath, let the process of law proceed, understand that we do have a process that can work if we have the people to do the job, and we do, and making sure we are making the determination fairly,” Rae told CBC News in an interview from Kingston, Ont.
As a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, Canada must process all refugee claimants who reach Canadian soil.
Previous Tamil migrants claimed to be fleeing persecution after the country’s bloody 26-year civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers.
However, the Tamil Tigers were defeated in May 2009, and a recent UN report states that, after the war, Tamils would no longer be presumed to be fleeing imminent harm.
The report says, in part: “Given the cessation of hostilities, Sri Lankans originating from the north of the country are no longer in need of international protection under broader refugee criteria or complementary forms of protection solely on the basis of risk of indiscriminate harm.”
Gayblackcanada 