Reports say Tamil asylum seekers may have headed for Canada

The Canadian government suspects the ship carrying 87 Tamil asylum seekers was bound for Canada until it was apprehended by Indonesian authorities.

“I can’t talk about any details in intelligence reports. There are indications that it may have been destined for Canada,” the Globe and Mail reported quoting the Canadian Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney.

“Our intelligence and police agencies are working very hard. They are getting great co-operation from the transit countries, as we’ve seen this week,” the Minister said.

The New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said there was no guarantee the Sri Lankans were actually refugees and they were not planning to go to New Zealand.

“In terms of the actual plans that they had, it doesn’t appear they weren’t actually intending to come here in the first place,” New Zealand Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman told the New Zealand Herald. “If you look at where these boats have gone in the past they’ve gone to a range of destinations. Canada’s pretty popular as is Australia.”

The MV Alicia was initially reported to have been bound for New Zealand, or possibly Australia, before it was stopped in Indonesian waters last weekend. While the ship’s ultimate destination remains something of a mystery, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that “charts indicating the boat was prepared to travel to Canada” may have been found aboard the vessel.

During a 12-month period between 2009 and 2010, nearly 600 Tamil migrants turned up on the coast of British Columbia in two nautical voyages. Some passengers are said to have indebted themselves to the tune of more than $40,000 a piece.

The influx of refugee claimants then became a political issue, their claims highlighting the paralysis of Canada’s legal systems. Nearly two years after the first ship arrived, no asylum bids have been heard by federal tribunals. While four alleged crew members of one ship were recently charged with human smuggling offences, it took police nearly two years to lay charges.

“These are complex investigations because these syndicates are criminal gangs who use intimidation and violence against witnesses,” Minister Kenney said. He added that among all potential smuggling destinations, “Canada is the softest target with the strongest pull factors.”

For much of the past year, Canadian agents have been working in Asia seeking to thwart smuggling rings before boats are boarded. In Ottawa, the Conservative government continues to flog its proposed legislation to penalise those involved in human-smuggling networks.

The passengers aboard the MV Alicia are said to have lived in Malaysia for two years prior to setting sail. Most of the migrants refused to leave the ship when it was brought ashore by Indonesian authorities.

Six women and five children were aboard. According to a BBC report, the passengers had a month’s worth of provisions with them. They described themselves as Tamils who were trapped in the crossfire during the final stages of the Sri Lankan conflict, and hired the ship “through financial help from Diaspora organisations.”

The Canadian Immigration Minister said smuggling networks are driven by financial motives, not by humanitarian considerations. Pointing out that the United Nations has said that Sri Lanka is no longer necessarily unsafe for migrants to return to and tens of thousands of Sri Lankans have recently returned home, the minister added there are countries closer to Sri Lanka to which bona fide refugee claimants could go.

“Paying a criminal gang $50,000 to get in a leaky boat to cross the Pacific Ocean is the wrong way” to get to Canada, he said.