“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.
David Poopalapillai, spokesman for Canadian Tamil Congress, and he is unaware of another ship coming.
Poopalapillai said Canada should be focusing on addressing the root of the problem. He said the Sri Lankan government is mistreating Tamils, following the end of war last year.
“The issue is not the ships but persecution of Tamils,” he said. “Sri Lanka has not been touched on this issue.”
— with files from Postmedia News
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