Sri Lankan High Commissioner Chitranganie Wageswara has warned Canadian authorities against possible LTTE activists who may be hiding among the 490 people on board a refugee ship that is new docked in that country, a senior official said yesterday.
External Affairs Ministry Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe said the High Commissioner had been advised by the Sri Lankan government to closely monitor the passengers on board the MV Sun Sea vessel which had come to Canada carrying Tamils from Sri Lanka after a 90-day grueling voyage.
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| A family is escorted off the MV Sun Sea after they and an estimated 490 suspected Tamil refugees arrived on a cargo ship at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in Colwood, British Columbia on Vancouver Island on Friday. Reuters. |
The High Commissioner would also visit the passengers to confirm their identity only if such a request was made by the Canadian authorities, Mr. Jayasinghe said.
Agency reports quoted Ms. Wageswara as saying that the voyage had been organized by groups linked to the Tamil Tigers.
Earlier the Defence Ministry in Colombo had also alerted the Canadian authorities that hardcore LTTE members who fled the country after the group was defeated in May last year might be among the refugees.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has warned that his Government may take a hardline on this matter with the latest arrival to discourage other ships from carrying human cargo.
“Human smugglers and traffickers are now watching our response to judge whether or not they can continue to take advantage of us. Canada will send a message to human smugglers. If you do this you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Mr. Toews said in a statement. |
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