Migrant suspected of having Tamil link

One of the Tamil migrants who arrived in Canada aboard the MV Sun Sea last year worked as a mechanic for the banned Tamil Tigers organization, but does that make him a member?


That was the question at the heart of an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing Friday that probed the man's admissibil-ity to the country and served as the first test of the strength of the government's security concerns about some of the migrants.

A representative for the Canada Border Services Agency argued that the man's work and activities amounted to membership of the Tigers -banned in Canada as a terrorist organization -and therefore he should not be allowed to remain in the country.

But the migrant's lawyer said the government's evidence of his client's membership of a terrorist organization is thin.

Friday's hearing was the first since the arrival of the Sun Sea in Victoria last August to probe whether one of its passengers should be removed from the country. Until now, all the hearings have focused on the issue of whether they should be kept in detention.

The Canada Border Services Agency has so far requested so-called admissibility hearings for about 32 of the Tamil migrants, mostly on the grounds that they pose a security threat because of alleged membership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, or because of alleged serious criminal pasts.

Those Tamils deemed inadmissible are subject to removal orders, effectively quashing any chance they have of proceeding with their refugee claims.