Tamil migrant ship docks off Canada’s West coast

Tamil migrant ship docks in Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A rusting cargo ship crammed with hundreds of Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka docked at a Canadian navy base on Friday after a grueling three-month journey.

The government confirmed that there were 490 people aboard the ship, the MV Sun Sea, and that the ship had declared them to be refugees. But Canada forced them to dock at a military base, saying there were concerns that Tamil extremists could be on board.

Gary Anandasangaree, a lawyer with the Canadian Tamil Congress, was on the scene as the boat arrived and said he couldn’t believe how a ship just 194 feet long (59 meters) could be carrying so many people.

“It clearly gives us an idea of the type of conditions that could have been inside. Very cramped, given the size,” Anandasangaree said.

Initial images of the vessel showed women and children, some smiling, aboard the tarp-draped freighter.

Anandasangaree said the tarps may be used to shield the identities of those on board. He suggested there could be reprisals against family members still in Sri Lanka if the identities of the refugees were revealed.

People began to leave the ship several hours after it docked. The first two men were followed by a woman who had to be helped ashore by officials. Children followed her.

Some were taken away on a stretcher. All were shielded from the view of cameras by black umbrellas. Ambulances were seen coming and going from the dockside and buses are also standing by.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said again Friday that the government has concerns that there may be members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, on board and that they’re coordinating a human smuggling operation. Canada has labeled the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group since 2006.

The Tamil Tigers fought a civil war for a quarter of a century in Sri Lanka seeking an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils, claiming decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict, which killed more than 80,000 people, ended in May 2009 after a massive government operation against the Tigers.

“We are very concerned that there are elements of the LTTE or Tamil Tigers on this vessel and indeed may well be coordinating this as part of a larger enterprise,” Toews said. “Our goal is to ensure that our refugee system is not hijacked by criminals or terrorists.”

The boat reportedly approached Australia a few months ago but was either turned away or feared it wouldn’t be allowed to dock and sailed toward Canada. Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, the largest such population outside Sri Lanka and India.

The MV Sun Sea was boarded by Canadian security officials late Thursday and brought to a seaside military facility for processing. The rusty boat is being held at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt on the outskirts of British Columbia’s provincial capital of Victoria on Vancouver Island, 47 miles (75 kilometers) east of Vancouver on the Canadian mainland.

Buses are expected to take many of the boat passengers to two Vancouver-area jails while officials sort out who are legitimate refugees and who are human smugglers or terrorists.

Toews, the public safety minister, said all the people onboard will be processed according to their claims and if they are not found to be valid they won’t be treated as refugees.

Toews said he wanted to make sure that “Canada’s generous refugee and immigration system” is not abused, suggesting that legal changes may be necessary.

Anandasangaree said even if some of those on board are Tamil Tigers, they would have a legitimate refugee case in Canada. He said they could face torture or death if returned to Sri Lanka. He added there is a need to distinguish between those who are refugees and those who would take advantage of refugees.

“I think the government may be painting everyone with the same brush. That’s a very dangerous situation,” Anandasangaree said.

Canadian Tamil Congress spokeswoman Majula Selvarajah said the United Nations, along with other non-governmental organizations, have reported people in Sri Lanka are still being persecuted and that needs to be taken into account when reviewing these refugees, regardless of how they entered Canadian territory.

Selvarajah said they have representatives of the Tamil organization in British Columbia ready to assist the migrants.

Chitranganee Wagiswara, Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada, has said Canada should not accept the Tamils’ claims for refugee status and said the ship is part of a human smuggling operation linked to the Tamil Tigers.

Last October, a ship carrying 76 Sri Lankan migrants was intercepted in Canadian waters after crossing the Pacific from Sri Lanka. The group on board the Ocean Lady claimed to be fleeing persecution.

All of the men were immediately detained in jails around the Vancouver area, but most were let go within weeks or months later and only one remained in custody on suspicion of being a Tiger. By this past spring, he, too, had been released.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Daniel McLeod will be working with the refugees next week as a legal aid lawyer when they arrive at two prisons now set up to house them east of Vancouver. He said they have a right to come to Canada to claim refugee status under the U.N. refugee convention.

Associated Press Writers Rob Gillies and Charmaine Noronha in Toronto contributed to this report.