The girl, who was born Tuesday and named Tamil, is the first offspring of the migrants to be born in Canada, community members said.
Federal immigration spokesman Karen Shadd said she couldn’t talk about specifics but any child who was born on Canadian soil is a citizen.
“Generally speaking, any Canadian citizen can sponsor their parents,” she said, but the child has to be an adult.
“The child is healthy and doing well,” said David Poopalapillai, of the Canadian Tamil Congress. “The mother is also doing fine.”
Poopalapillai said the child’s mom was released from detention about two days ago and is staying with members of the Tamil community in B.C.
“They are being looked after well,” he said on Friday. “We are very happy for her and her mother.”
The arrival of the 492 migrants in August on the MV Sun Sea sparked outrage among Canadians who accuse them of jumping the queue for refugee status. Most of the group are being detained as officials of the Canada Border Services Agency search for Tamil Tigers members among them.
So far, only about 20 persons, who were crew members of the Sun Sea, are being held in segregation in jail, officials said.
Poopalapillai said more than 20 migrants have so far been released from custody on bonds ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 posted by community members.
He said two of the migrants are now in Toronto and they are not allowed to work until their refugee claims are heard.
“They are frustrated because they have been in detention for more than a month,” he said. “They have many emotional and physical needs”.
Poopalapillai said the migrants are being unfairly singled out for escaping for their lives.
“They are being unfairly targeted,” he said Friday. “These people have been through a lot and many have lost loved ones.”
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