Location Transport

Tamil Refugees tried to take asylum in Australia and Canada by Ships Can they escape from Sri Lanka?

Mon, Oct 19 08:48 AM Vancouver, Oct 19 (IANS) Canadian authorities have thwarted a major attempt at human smuggling, seizing a ship-load of refugees possibly from Sri Lanka near Vancouver Saturday. The ship bearing the name of Ocean Lady was carrying 76 males. The passengers were brought to Vancouver Sunday and sent to correctional facilities (jail) for questioning. The ship was spotted in the sea near the Canadian coast and escorted by the authorities into Victoria which is the capital of British Columbia province. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said its officers took control of the ship Friday afternoon. Though it is an obvious attempt at human smuggling, the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said they were questioning the passengers to ascertain the origin of the ship. 'The individuals have been transported to ... a corrections facility (jail) in Vancouver, where the CBSA will continue to examine their admissibility to Canada,' the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Sunday. 'We are acting quickly to meet the immediate personal and health needs of these individuals, and we are processing them in an efficient manner and in accordance with Canadian law,' Rob Johnston of the CBSA said the statement. Canadian Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said in Ottawa that preliminary inquiry hinted that the ship came from Sri Lanka. David Poopalapillai, the vocal spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, also said the passengers looked like Tamils. He said the Tamils were being forced to take such risks as they faced a dire situation in Sri Lanka after the recent conflict. Though a few large-scale attempts at human smuggling have been foiled in recent past, lax Canadian laws make human smuggling - particularly at a small scale - very easy. Once a person manages to enter this country illegally, it is very difficult to remove him because of cumbersome laws. Currently, there are more than 60,000 refuge seekers in this country. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tamils flee genocide — refugees should be welcomed! Jay Fletcher 19 October 2009 On October 15, almost 260 Tamil refugees were stranded at an Indonesian port in west Java. They were refusing to disembark from the boat that had carried them from Malaysia and pleaded for the Australian government to hear their case. That evening they declared a hunger strike. Alex,a spokesperson for the group, told the media: “We decided on the strike to let the whole world know that we need their assistance as soon as possible. We need somebody to consider our case.” The hunger strike was ended on October 17, although the refugees still refuse to leave their boats. The boat had been moored at Merak after it was caught sailing toward Australian waters. The Indonesian navy took it to the port. The move was at the specific request of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who had phoned his Indonesian counterpart and fed “top-level intelligence detailing the whereabouts of the boat”, the West Australian said on October 13. The information had come from Australian border security based in Indonesia. Alex told Green Left Weekly by phone that the refugees are escaping government-driven genocide in Sri Lanka. “We have run away from a war, a 26-year war against our people and we are fleeing genocide”, he said. Tamils are victims of war crimes in Sri Lanka. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka have released reports of widespread abductions and executions at the behest of Sri Lankan officials. Three hundred thousand Tamils remain imprisoned in government concentration camps. Alex told ABC journalists, “there is not the opportunity for Tamils to survive in Sri Lanka”. He told GLW the asylum seekers were devastated by Australia's actions. “When people are fleeing war and genocide, how can a country think protecting themselves is more important than helping these people?” he told GLW. “The world is for all of humankind, we are just like you except we do not have a country.” The October 16 Age said two of the refugees on hunger strike were taken to hospital in a “critical condition”. These refugees escaped, risked everything, got out by boat, spent one month hiding in a Malaysian jungle and then made it close enough to Australian waters to prompt the PM himself to intervene and turn them away. Despite their clear fear and desperation, no Australian authority, government or border protection personnel, have approached or talked to them. In fact, since Rudd's phone call, they've been completely dismissed. On October 15, deputy PM Julia Gillard declared the refugees were Indonesia's problem. The event has fuelled government and media panic about the rise in boatloads of people from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and, increasingly, Sri Lanka. But this concern is steeped in racist

Public Comments

1. Sad Story of Hindus Holocaust revisited after 1947 May God Bless peace to the Departed Souls
2. I really don't think that we should take anymore imagrants in. We have enough here in Canada and there are thousands in hiding that we cannot find. I say no more.
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