Tamils in Thailand ready for latest shipment to Canada
September 7, 2010 09:49 am
A terrorism expert
claims a group of Tamils are gathered in Thailand waiting for a ship to collect
them and bring them to Canada.
“The same network
responsible for the Sun Sea and Ocean Lady are in the process of collecting
people, to pay to come to Canada,” said Prof. Rohan Gunaratna, of the
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in
Singapore.
“They are gathering a
group right now in Thailand.”
Last October, 76 Tamils
claiming to be refugees arrived in Victoria aboard the Ocean Lady.
They have all been
released pending refugee hearings and most have moved to Toronto.
Last month, 492 more
Tamil asylum-seekers arrived aboard the Sun Sea after leaving from a harbour in
Thailand.
They are all still in
detention.
Gunaratna said the
Canadian government is taking a much tougher line with the latest gathering of
asylum-seekers in Thailand.
“The Canadian and
Australian government worked with Thai authorities over the Sun Sea. But the
Canadians are being far more proactive this time. Their position has changed
and they are working closely with Thailand.
“Since the Sun Sea
arrived the Canadian government has developed a better understanding of the
network responsible for these ships.”
Gunaratna said a source
has told him of the latest gathering in Thailand.
He said it is likely
there will be an arrest made in Canada in connection with human smuggling
involving Tamils in the next few weeks.
Chris McCluskey,
spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, said in an email when asked
about the latest possible gathering of Canada-bound Tamils, “Our Government
will not sit back while Canada becomes a target for increasingly sophisticated
criminal operations that are trying to take advantage of Canada’s generosity.
We will toughen our laws to ensure that we are able to maintain our borders and
defeat human smuggling.”
He would not comment on whether the authorities were aware of another migrant ship, The Province reports.
