Almost half of Canadians would deport Lankans: Poll
August 20, 2010 10:41 am
Many adults in Canada believe that
the Tamil migrants who arrived to the country on a ship last month should not
be allowed to stay in the country even if they are not linked to terrorism,
according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 48 per cent of respondents
believe the passengers and crew should be deported.
On Aug. 12, the MV Sun Sea—a ship
carrying about 490 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka—arrived in the Canadian
province of British Columbia. The ship’s passengers and crew are currently
undergoing medical and identification checks to determine the legitimacy of
their refugee claims.
On Aug. 13, Canadian public safety
minister Vic Toews said he considers the MV Sun Sea a “test boat”, adding, “This
particular situation is being observed by others who may have similar
intentions and I think it’s very important that Canada deals with the situation
in a clear and decisive way. I don’t view this as an isolated, independent act.”
On Aug. 18, Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper discussed the situation, saying, “I think Canadians are pretty
concerned, when a whole boat of people comes, not through any normal
application process, not through any normal arrival channel, and just simply
lands. And obviously this leads to significant security concerns.”
Polling Data
The ship’s passengers and crew are
currently undergoing medical and identification checks to determine the
legitimacy of their refugee claims. If the refugee claims are legitimate, and
there is no discernible link between the migrants and any terrorist
organization, which of these courses of action would you prefer?
Deporting the passengers and crew
to their country of origin |
48% |
Allowing the passengers and crew
to stay in Canada as refugees |
35% |
Not sure |
17% |
|
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,019 Canadian adults, conducted on Aug. 18
and Aug. 19, 2010. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.