Identifying captain, crew of Tamil ship could be difficult, expert says

The RCMP is likely facing significant challenges in identifying the captain and crew of the MV Sun Sea — a critical piece of information in the human-smuggling investigation of the vessel, according to an expert on international security.

Andre Gerolymatos, a Simon Fraser University professor of history specializing in international security, said it's a common practice in human-smuggling operations for the organizers to threaten passengers into silence.
"They'll be told to say they didn't pay anything (to travel), that they don't know who the captain is or who the officers are, (or that) they just paid somebody back on land and ended up on the ship," said Gerolymatos.
If the Sun Sea were part of a human-smuggling operation, Gerolymatos said, migrants might be fearful that if they reveal any information regarding the captain and crew, it could jeopardize their own chances of being accepted as refugees and threaten the safety of their families back home.
The Sun Sea docked in Victoria on Aug. 13 after a three-month voyage from Sri Lanka. The Thai cargo ship was crammed with 492 Tamil asylum seekers who are currently being detained in three separate correctional facilities in Burnaby, Alouette and Maple Ridge.
Canadian authorities are concerned some of the claimants might be members of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada, and Ottawa has made strong allegations about the ship, with Public Safety Minister Vic Toews branding it part of a "broader criminal enterprise."
But the RCMP, now charged with investigating whether the Sun Sea is part of a human-smuggling operation, has been tight-lipped.
Police will not confirm comments last week by Chitranganee Wagiswara, the Sri Lankan high commissioner in Ottawa, that the commander of the vessel is a man by the name of Capt. Vinod and is known to be involved with the Tamil Tigers and arms procurement.
Const. Michael McLaughlin, spokesman for the RCMP E division, said Mounties are not releasing any information about the status of the captain and crew, even though police are "well under way in terms of the identification process and looking for potential criminal activity."
McLaughlin acknowledged that it is generally challenging to identify the operators of a human-smuggling ship.
"Anytime you have an investigation of this size that involves potential charges of human smuggling, there are certainly going to be witnesses that are going to be reluctant to say what happened or to come forward," he said.
"But this is standard practice for the RCMP, our federal sections are well aware of that phenomenon, they are trained investigators and trained interviewers and it's our job to separate fact from fiction."
Meanwhile, the Immigration and Refugee Board entered its third day of detention hearings for the Sri Lankan refugee claimants.
Malini Dyonisius, one of several lawyers appointed by B.C.'s Legal Services Society to represent the migrants, said it could be months before they are released.
The migrants are being held on the grounds that their identities have not yet been established.
As of Wednesday evening, 170 migrants had hearings and were ordered to continue their detention for seven days, when the next mandatory detention review hearing will be held.