According to Thai media reports the government suspects the illegal Tamil immigrants to be a part of a group seeking to travel to Canada as refugees. Many of the migrants had no travel documents or valid visas, the government officials said.
Intelligence information have revealed that a number of LTTE Tamil Tigers were among the Sri Lankan illegal immigrants living in Thailand waiting to seek asylum in a third country, mainly Canada.
Canadian officials have said that they were aware of the raid in Bangkok but have not commented whether the Canadian authorities had any role in the bust.
In August an investigative report by Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail revealed that an alleged Tamil Tiger human-smuggling ring operating in the Thai capital is preparing to smuggle another shipload of Tamils who have left Sri Lanka to be sent to Canada.
The Globe and Mail report said the Tamils arrive in Bangkok from Sri Lanka on two-week tourist visas and stay in rented apartments pretending to be tourists until the next ship is ready to sail to Canada.
It further said that the entire operation is financed by enormous amounts of money and agents who operate in the Thai capital charge tens of thousands of dollars for safe passage to Canada.
In August Thai cargo ship MV Sun Sea carried 492 Tamil migrants some of whom were alleged LTTE members to Vancouver Island in Canada. All the migrants have sought asylum in the country.
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