Now there more migrant ships carrying refugees headed to Canada.
More migrant ships headed this way, Vic Toews warns - thestar.com
More migrant ships headed this way, Vic Toews warns
By Petti Fong Western Bureau
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ESQUIMALT, B.C.—The only Canadians they’ve encountered so far wear health masks. The only view they’ve had of Canada has been under the watch of armed guards.
Some of the nearly 500 Sri Lankan men, women and children (including alleged terrorists) who arrived about 6:30 a.m. Friday under navy escort appeared solemn and relieved as they stood on the deck of the MV Sun Sea. They are being kept far from the public view and can be seen only through high-powered camera lenses.
The Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, speaking Friday in Victoria, said more ships — and more migrants — are headed toward Canada.
“I don’t view this as an isolated independent act,” said Toews. “There are others who are watching this particular situation to determine the reaction of Canadian authorities and they will be making decisions based on the reaction.”
At least two other ships are believed to be heading this way in hopes of landing dozens, perhaps hundreds, of migrants from war-torn Sri Lanka seeking political asylum.
Toews said he believes Canada is being tested
“What I am concerned about is that the generosity of Canada’s immigration and refugee laws are not taken advantage of,” he said. “There seems to be a deliberate attempt to thwart Canadian laws.”
The Canadian Tamil Congress, which had members out at dawn watching for the cargo ship to arrive, said there are families waiting to initiate contact with the new arrivals.
“They’re expressing concern for the health and livelihood of loved ones,” said Gary Anandasangaree, a lawyer who plans to represent some of the migrants as they begin their refugee process. “This has been an incredibly hard journey for them.”
The 490 men, women and children on board the 59-metre Sun Sea, flying under Thai flag, were escorted to a dock at CFB Esquimalt after the ship was tracked for 2 ½ months by Canadian and American authorities.
The RCMP boarded the vessel around 7 p.m. Thursday night and travelled with it from Port Alberni down the coast of Vancouver Island to the naval base just west of Victoria. It was towed by two Canadian navy ships and followed by at least half a dozen other vessels while a military helicopter hovered overhead.
For the first few hours, the migrants were kept on the ship but were gradually taken out by border security agents and military officers wearing medical masks. An ambulance took some migrants to Victoria General Hospital, where a special emergency ward and floor had been organized to monitor and treat the sick.
Shannon Marshall, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, said Friday afternoon that only a “small number of patients” were brought in and most are expected to be discharged. There has been no impact on services to the public, she said.
The health authority is not releasing information about the migrants’ health conditions.
Released migrants are being temporarily held in tents at the base while their refugee claims are assessed.
Within the next few days, they are expected to be transported to the mainland, where they will be housed in two jails in Maple Ridge, a Vancouver suburb.
Toews has hinted that the people involved in human trafficking will face criminal charges and anyone who is linked to the Tamil Tigers will be turned away.
At a technical briefing Friday, the Canadian Navy, the Border Services Agency, Foreign Affairs and the RCMP provided few details about the interception and the boarding of the Sun Sea. They said many questions must still be asked.
All the migrants will be fingerprinted and questioned by CBSA agents to determine their identity. All those on board are making refugee claims.
RCMP Insp. Tracey Rook said it will take time to even confirm identities of those on board. Officials would not give a breakdown of how many women, men and children there were.
Navy Capt. Patrick Mulholland said Sun Sea was mechanically sound despite its long cross-Pacific journey, which began in Sri Lanka in April and touched Thailand and Australia before ending in Canada. The navy security and navigational crews that commandeered the vessel had no difficulty piloting the ship.
The migrants were calm and compliant when Canadian authorities boarded the ship, said Mulholland. It will be days before all the refugee claims are formally filed.
According to figures from the Immigration and Refugee Board, Sri Lanka is among the top 10 source countries for arrivals who make refugee claims.
In the first six months of 2010, there were 1,163 pending cases and 345 of those claims have been accepted. Sri Lankan applicants have an 85 per cent acceptance rate — the highest rate of all the top 10 source countries. The second highest rate is for Nigerians; 58 per cent of their claims have been accepted this year.
Last October, another vessel, the Ocean Lady, landed at Victoria with 76 migrants from Sri Lanka. They all made refugee claims; their claims are still being considered.
