Their goal is to start a chapter of the dismantled terrorist group in Toronto, said LankaWeb, which runs a pro-Sri Lankan government articles from around the world.
The purpose of the MV Sun Sea journey this month was to raise money for the Tigers, which is considered a terror group in Canada, and smuggle fighters to Toronto so they can establish a cell, said an article on the website which was attributed to Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada.
The journey was “to gather the remnants of the Tamil Tiger fighting cadres in an asylum-granting liberal democracy such as Canada, and pursue the objective of carving out a separate state of ‘Eelam’ for Tamils in Sri Lanka,” said the article.
“The Canadian pro-Tigers disapora is the largest and most active segment in the world.”
It alleged the group’s supporters in Toronto will profit from the journey, which they helped set up by enlisting migrants who paid up to $50,000 for the trip.
David Poopalapillai, of the Canadian Tamil Congress, countered any potential members of the Tigers who hid among the migrants will be intercepted by the RCMP or an Immigration and Refugee Board.
The migrants are being detained while the Mounties and CSIS conduct security checks.
“The system has checks and balances in place,” Poopalapillai said Monday from B.C. “It has the ability and capabality to weed out these people if they’re inadmissable.”
He said 10 more women appeared before an adjudicator on Monday and all are being detained until their identities have been confirmed.
Poopalapillai said community members are ready to raise thousands of dollars to pay for bonds that will be required for the release of the migrants.
He said the migrants are in good shape and being well-treated by police and border officials.
LankaWeb said Tamil women are being smuggled into Canada to increase their dowry value on arranged marriages to partners back home. There were 60 women and 30 children among the Sun Sea migrants.
“A Tamil family in Colombo cannot match the riches of a Tamil family in Toronto,“ said LankaWeb.
The site said parents are forced to send their daughters or sisters abroad to earn a hefty dowry when they get married. A woman who is a Canadian citizen is worth more in dowry since she can sponsor a husband, community members said.
During the last 12 months ending in March this year, the Canada’s embassy in Colombo issued 680 immigrant visas in the spousal category, according to statistics from the immigration department.
Most of the visas were for women who were sponsoring spouses to come to Canada.
Kripa Sekhar, of Toronto’s South Asian Womens’ Centre, said a small amount of women use dowry payments as a motive for coming to Canada.
Meanwhile, activities were held in Ottawa and Kitchener on Monday to welcome the Tamils to Canada.
Organizer Rachel Avery, of the group AWOL, said the migrants should be released from custody and granted asylum in Canada.
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