Canada to take hard line with would-be migrants

Tamil Canadians urge compassion for the 76 men, believed to be from Sri Lanka
Canada's Immigration Minister has signalled that he intends to play hardball with 76 men believed to be from Sri Lanka who arrived on a rusty boat off Canada's West Coast, as the government battles the perception of Canada as a soft touch for asylum seekers.

While Tamil Canadians have urged Canadian officials to show compassion, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told The Globe and Mail yesterday that that the migrants' illegal arrival highlights the growing problem of human smuggling.

The Conservative government has said it believes many refugee claims are bogus and has promised tougher legislation.

“We don't want to develop a reputation of having a two-tier immigration system – one tier for legal, law-abiding immigrants who patiently wait to come to the country, and a second tier who seek to come through the back door, typically through the asylum system,” Mr. Kenney said in an interview.

“We need to do a much better job of shutting the back door of immigration for those who seek to abuse that asylum system.”

The plight of the men, who are expected to make refugee claims, will likely move to an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing room Tuesday.

Under Canadian immigration law, an asylum seeker who is held in custody must be given a detention hearing within 48 hours of being taken into custody. The migrants were led off the boat in handcuffs late Saturday night.

Their arrival has galvanized Canada's huge Tamil community, which dispatched two of its members to the West Coast. Toronto lawyer Gary Anandasangaree showed up at the Canada Border Services Agency's Vancouver offices Monday asking to meet with the migrants, but was refused.

He and David Poopalapillai took a red-eye flight to Vancouver early Monday. They believe the migrants are young Tamils desperate to leave Sri Lanka.

“For many people, Sri Lanka is no longer safe,” Mr. Anandasangaree said. He said he will try again Tuesday to meet with the migrants, who were taken from Vancouver Island to a suburban Vancouver detention centre.

The Tamil Canadians believe the migrants will make refugee claims. Mr. Anandasangaree said he flew to Vancouver to ensure the men have lawyers and are treated properly. “If they've willing to risk so much getting here, they deserve a hearing. They deserve our compassion.”

News reports from Australia suggest that the migrants' ship, called Ocean Lady, may be part of a network of vessels carrying desperate asylum seekers to Western nations. Several vessels carrying Sri Lankans and other Asian nationals – including Afghans – have been intercepted in the Pacific Ocean. Australian news reports suggest those Sri Lankan asylum seekers knew a ship was headed to Canada.

There are also reports that the migrants paid up to $45,000 (U.S.) each to make the treacherous journey. When asked where a Sri Lankan could get that kind of money, some Tamil Canadians noted that most Tamils have relatives abroad, 300,000 of whom live in Canada.

The migrants' dramatic arrival is reminiscent of a wave of illegal Chinese migrants who sailed into Canadian waters off B.C. 10 years ago. They had paid human smugglers thousands of dollars to get them across the ocean. Eventually, more than half of those roughly 600 migrants were sent back to China.

Tamil Canadians say Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka have legitimate claims to asylum. A long, bloody civil war recently ended between the government and rebel Tamil Tigers, but civilian Tamils were caught in the clash. Nearly 300,000 are being held in an internment camp in northern Sri Lanka, which has been condemned by the world's top human-rights organizations.

If the migrants are Tamils, one top concern for Canadian Immigration officials will be the threat that some are members of the Tamil Tigers, which Canada considers a terrorist organization. Any of the migrants who fought for the separatist Tigers would be barred from making a refugee claim.

Mr. Kenney noted that asylum claims have increased by almost 70 per cent over the past two years, spurred by Canada's acceptance rate of about 40 per cent, which he said was twice that of other developed nations.

“When a large number of people arrive off the coast in one boat, it attracts people's attention,” he said. “But I can tell you there were airplanes arriving from Prague this summer where over half the passengers were going on to make asylum claims.”

However, the minister had no comment when asked when legislation to tighten the rules for those claiming asylum would arrive in Parliament. All political parties are wary of being seen as anti-immigrant by Canada's large and growing immigrant population.