Abusing Canada's generosity 'utterly unacceptable' - Canada Public Safety Ministry

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Abusing Canada's generosity 'utterly unacceptable' - Canada Public Safety Ministry


"Human smuggling is a despicable crime and any attempts to abuse Canada's generos
ity for financial gain are utterly unacceptable," Christopher McCluskey, a spokesperson for the Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, told CTV of Canada in a recent email. "We will toughen our laws to ensure that we are able to maintain our borders and defeat human smuggling."
The Sun Sea "was not simply a tramp steamer wandering around Southeast Asia and picked up 492 people. This was a very well organized and co-coordinated effort, the Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said.
"Individuals were not picked up, for example, on the shores of Sri Lanka and then they wandered around Southeast Asia for a number of months," he added. "This was a boat...that was specifically outfitted for a long journey and the only destination of that particular ship was Canada. It was a very deliberate journey to Canada," the Minister told reporters in Halifax this week.
The Sun Sea was previously known as the Harin Panich 19, owned by a Thai shipping company until the end of March, CTV of Canada reported.
That's when Harin Group -- the company that used to own the Harin Panich 19 -- used a third-party to sell the cargo ship to another company, which goes by the name of Sun & Rshiya. The Globe and Mail reported Sun & Rshiya paid about $175,000 Canadian for the Sun Sea.
The ship's flag and nationality were changed the day after the sale. Four-and-a-half months later, the ship arrived in Canada packed with nearly 500 Tamil migrants.
"We have not been in contact with the new owner or the vessel itself after it was sold and only found out through the news that she was used by illegal immigrants to enter Canada illegally and we are deeply saddened by this news," the Harin Group told CTV.ca in an email.
Both the Canadian government and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada have warned that the Sun Sea may have carried members of the Tamil Tigers.
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Ottawa Chitrangani Wagiswara said the Tamil migrants who boarded the Sun Sea were likely granted tourist visas to Thailand where they would have stayed before departing for Canada.
Asked if Thailand needs to do more to prevent the smuggling of Tamil migrants, Wagiswara said the key is having cooperation between governments.
"It's not an easy task and there needs to be a lot of international cooperation amongst many countries," said Wagiswara, noting that Sri Lanka maintains a dialogue with governments throughout Southeast Asia.
"Canada is a good place for refugees," Sanjeev Kuhendrarajah, a 28-year-old Tamil and former Canadian resident who had an opportunity to ride on the Sun Sea, told CTV.ca in a telephone interview.
Courtesy - PRIU