There is drama on the high seas today as a ship carrying an estimated 490 Tamil migrants has now entered Canadian territorial waters and has been boarded by our navy. Now the decision must be made as to whether we turn them away at sea, or allow them to land and process each refugee claim on a case by case basis. Our border services are preparing for this scenario as a tent city is being erected in the event that these people land on Canadian soil. There are reports that some of the passengers are sick and that a significant proportion of them may not survive a trip back to Sri Lanka. It should also be noted that the civil war in that country has ended, so these people are not fleeing an active war zone. There are also reports that among the 490 people are several members of the Tamil Tiger paramilitary group, which is designated as a terrorist organization in Canada.
What do I think we should do? My first instinct would be to not allow the boat to reach Canadian soil, but I don't want to see it return to Sri Lanka with 490 corpses in the cargo hold. I would like to see them fed, cleaned up, treat the sick, and then send them home. We can't be too generous in this situation or we will only create incentive for more human smugglers to fill up cargo ships in unsafe conditions and sail for Canadian waters in the future.
Aside from that, I trust Jason Kenney to handle this in the best possible manner. Interesting that 83% of Evan Soloman's left leaning audience thinks the boat should be turned away before reaching Canadian soil. This coming after Ignatieff said the boat should be allowed to land and each refugee processed individually.
I agree with your approach. Fix the broken, but continuing with the precedent of allowing these types of boats to land on Canadian soil is cutting, in the immigration line - there are thousands of people waiting to enter Canada through the proper channels. Showing up unannounced should only work if your life is in immediate danger as a result of ongoing warfare in your homeland.
ReplyDeleteEvan did not even bother to get anyone to point out that the REFUGEE LAW has changed.
ReplyDeleteIt is Toews move first before the ship lands, and then over to Kenny next. 10 ships is a lot (navy, RCMP) and they have been talking to Australia, Sri Lanka and the UN for a while.
I'll bet that they will use some sort of a triage plan, based on international public safety/law of the sea plus refugee laws.
Perhaps identifiable crooks, like the organizers may not even land. They may be arrested and charged. The new immigration processing law and rules will be used, once they have done an assessment of the state of the people. They probably have some trained IRB professional staff by now (the new law took out some of the worst loopholes).
If a supposed refugee comes as an individual I would say let us interview first, determine their status and make a decision on the merits but when a whole boatload shows up it's either human trafficing or a blatent abuse of the system. This ship needs to be sent back and not allowed to land.
ReplyDeleteIceman, I urge you to spend your next vacation in Sri Lanka. It will change your whole perception of what the media and the SL Tamil diaspora is saying about that place. That country has living standards that are on par with any country in the Carribean. It is also a preferred vacation spot for Indian movie stars and millionaires. The LTTE lost the war and can't seem to want to live in peace with the Singhalese, they would rather wipe out half the population so that they can establish their little "eelam". I'm 100% sure that the latest wave of migrants is just part of the LTTE's attempts to regroup in Canada and stage attacks in SL after raising enough money and recruits.Remember, these people had one of the most well-equipped rebel armies anywhere with aircraft, ships etc. Hardly, the poor, and innocent refugees the media seems to portraying them as.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to send the bill to the shipping company
ReplyDelete"that 83% of Evan Soloman's left leaning audience thinks the boat should be turned away before reaching Canadian soil."
ReplyDeleteCheck out the CBC poll now - only 40% in favour.
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/08/question-of-the-day-170.html
As I posted at BLY, seems like some politically correct little poll demons have been very busy overnight.