The refugee claims from the nearly 600 Sri Lankans who paid smugglers to ferry them to Canada are moving slowly and face dwindling odds of success, new statistics show.
More than two years after the Ocean Lady arrived off Vancouver Island carrying 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, only one has been accepted as a refugee so far, according to newly released Immigration and Refugee Board figures. Another has been ordered deported and the remaining claims are pending.
Of the 492 Sri Lankans who arrived in 2010 aboard the MV Sun Sea, only three have been recognized as refugees while 13 claims have been withdrawn and five abandoned. The remainder of the cases are scheduled to be dealt with over the next few months.
Together with an acceptance rate for Sri Lankan refugee claimants that plummeted to 57% last year, from 76% in 2010 and 91% in 2009, the figures suggest that the 568 boat people who arrived on Canada’s West Coast may face a tougher time than their countrymen who arrived earlier.
In a refugee hearing room in Toronto on Monday, a passenger on the Ocean Lady described how the village where he lived was initially controlled by Tamil Tigers rebels, who would visit his home to collect money from his father.
He said his female cousin joined the rebels and was killed, but that he had never been recruited.
His claim comes as Canada is accepting considerably fewer Sri Lankan refugee claims than it has in more than two decades. Just over half of the 492 claims finalized last year were accepted, down from a high of 96% in 1989.
“All refugee protection claims referred to the IRB are reviewed on the evidence presented in that individual case and decided on its merits. Each case is unique,” said Anna Pape, a refugee board spokeswoman. “The statistics do not reflect the many factors — besides the alleged country of persecution — that members must consider before making a determination.”
A combination of factors is likely responsible for the drop, notably the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. But the federal government also appears to be paying closer attention, particularly to those cases that involve human smuggling. While the Canada Border Services Agency rarely intervenes in refugee cases, it has filed notice that it intends to intervene in every hearing involving those who were on board the Ocean Lady.
Stopping human smuggling ships became a government priority after the arrivals of the Ocean Lady and the Sun Sea. Both ships were organized by a Bangkok-based criminal ring. The Conservatives have drafted legislation to crack down on smugglers and their human cargo.
Last week, the BBC reported that more than 200 Sri Lankans who had paid to be smuggled to Canada by sea had been abandoned by their agent in Togo. – National Post
