In October 2009, a vessel carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamils seeking asylum in Canada arrived off the coast of Vancouver Island.  Each of these individuals claimed to be refugees fleeing persecution from the Sinhalese government in Sri Lanka. 

 

According to press reports, they were detained, and before they even had an opportunity to present any evidence supporting their refugee claims, the RCMP contacted the Sri Lankan government about certain of the detainees, placing their families in Sri Lanka at risk for reprisal, if their claims of persecution were true. 

 

“Canada’s conduct with respect to last October’s group of Tamil migrants is very troubling.  Canada simply cannot be so cavalier with its disclosure of information to countries with poor human rights records, particularly with respect to individuals claiming asylum in our country.” said Robert Holmes, President of the BCCLA.

In the weeks and months that followed, the government continued to detain many of the 76 migrants under its power of investigatory detention.  In January 2010, the government sought to hold secret hearings to present evidence that they needed more time to investigate suspicions of inadmissibility, since it did not have any evidence showing that the detainees posed a risk to public safety. 

 

Nonetheless, following the filing of an abuse of process complaint by some of the migrants, the government authorized the release of all of the remaining detainees while their asylum applications are pending. 

 

“Given that the government had no evidence showing that the refugees posed any danger to Canada, it is incredible that they were held in detention for months,” said Holmes. 

 

“Canada needs to ensure that the migrants now landing in British Columbia are not subjected to the same unjustified detentions.”