Another Sun Sea asylum seeker ordered deported
August 3, 2011 08:01 am
A Tamil asylum seeker who arrived in Canada aboard the MV Sun Sea last year has been ordered deported on allegations he committed a war crime in Sri Lanka. The man, who is being housed in a Maple Ridge men’s prison, admitted he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a banned terrorist organization in Canada.
Obliterated in 2009, the Tigers fought a 30-year-long civil war to create an independent state in northern Sri Lanka.
In a heavily edited decision released by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Board Tuesday, the man was accused of counselling other Tamil Tigers to commit a war crime.
Adjudicator Geoff Rempel found that “rather than participate himself,” the man deliberately urged or incited others to commit the crime.
“His statements, viewed objectively in context, actively prompted, advocated or encouraged the commission of the offence,” wrote Rempel.
The man was one of 492 people who travelled to Canada aboard the MV Sun Sea, a rusty 59-metre-long cargo ship, which took three months to sail from Thailand to Victoria.
The government has requested admissibility hearings for 50 migrants because of alleged links to the Tamil Tigers.
So far, a total of six of the Sun Sea passengers have been deported.
The rest are pursuing refugee claims. Eight men remain in custody, Canadian media reports.
